


Pet Shop Boys

by Chiminist



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bang Chan Needs His Dog to be Taken Care of, Bang Chan is a Mess, Bang Chan is a Pathetic Gay, Bang Chan-centric, Barebacking, Bottom Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Dirty Thoughts, Fingerfucking, I Said Dog, I Wasn't Kidding About Chan Being a Mess, Inexperienced Handjobs, Lee Felix is a Dog Trainer, Like a lot of teasing, M/M, Masturbation, Not Cock, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Porn With Plot, Rimming, Seo Changbin is a Panicked Gay, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Teasing, Top Bang Chan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:01:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25916269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiminist/pseuds/Chiminist
Summary: Bang Chan decides to adopt a dog from a local shelter and soon seeks help in a form of a dog-sitter. He happens to be introduced to a young and impossibly handsome dog trainer, Lee Felix and quickly starts to realize that he is very much attracted to him. Not wanting to scare him away, building up their friendship through hilarious encounters, he wonders what would happen if his secret was revealed to the seemingly oblivious friend that he's very much, in love with.Alternatively, Felix waltzes into Chris's life and has no mercy while messing with the pathetic gay side of his poor, sex-starved life.This summary needs to be rewritten, I swear to dog.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Hwang Hyunjin/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work has been pre-written and is contained in three chapters. I'll be adding another one with a lot more smut soon. Please consider the tags added above.
> 
> DO NOT REPOST THIS WORK OR SHREK WILL COME GET YOU
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed the first part of this series. Right now I'm working on a Hyunbin spin-off, so be sure to stay around.  
> Anyway, I hope this fic sits well with you.  
> Warning: English is not my first language, grammarians have mercy.

It's been a few months now since I brought my new dog Brodie to my apartment. I live alone and life was getting very lonely without anyone that could keep me company. Especially since the whole quarantine situation has gotten serious and there was no telling when the lockdown was going to end.

It made me visit my local shelter located on the outskirts of my town and even though I wasn’t entirely sure what exactly adopting a dog entailed I couldn’t bring myself to just leave Brodie behind. It was love at first sight. I saw him inside the cage, jumping happily all around the place, decided to take him for a short walk and there it was. We did some paperwork on the spot, arranged a visit to the vet and just like that, Brodie was adopted.

During quarantine, I was allowed to work from home, which was great. That way I could give Brodie all the love and care he needed. Eventually, he got used to his new home, to me and after a little bit of training and a whole lot of patience, he started to enjoy our little daily routine and gave me his endless love in return.

Have I mentioned that the dog was cute as hell? No? My bad. He's an adorable Corkie, a mix between Cocker Spaniel and Yorkshire terrier, as I was told by the shelter staff. Whatever, I didn’t know a lot about dog breeds anyway. I knew the dog care basics and asked my friend Jisung, who also happened to own a dog, for help when needed. He also helped me a lot with socializing Brodie and showed me some cool but basically useless dog tricks that I could teach Brodie to keep him occupied on rainy days.

Few months later, I decided it's about time I start going to the studio again. Producing music from home worked for a while but it was more of an emergency solution and I must confess that I missed the guys more that I would like to admit. Jisung and Changbin were more than happy to join me at the studio and with that a new problem arose.

Brodie wasn’t really keen on spending several hours locked up with me in the tiny space of my recording studio. He was better off in my apartment room. But he still needed a walk around noon. I thought about hiring someone that could take him outside and play with him when I'm away. At least for an hour or so.

I asked Jisung if he didn’t know someone, anyone who would be willing to do that for me. I'd pay a generous amount, I announced. But to my surprise, it was Changbin who turned to me and told me he might know just the right person to take care after Brodie.

  
"Seriously?" I asked him, not quite sure how to respond.

"Trust me, he has a lot of experience with dog care. He's been training dogs since I can remember," I gladly accepted the number Changbin offered me.  
  
"Just text him about the details. Ask nicely though, he's a busy lad."

"Can you tell me his name, so I don’t have to save his number as 'The dog sitter'?" I said, jokingly.

Changbin just gave me a stare then turned around in his chair, dissociating with me, "His name is Felix Lee", he said, facing me with his back.

Felix the dog sitter was it then.

That very evening, as I sat on the couch with Brodie stretched out across my lap, I hovered over Felix's number for a while before I decided to type in a message.

"Good evening, I'm Christopher Bang. Sorry to bother you at such a late hour. Changbin told me you work as a dog day care assistant. My dog, Brodie, needs someone to take him for a walk when I'm away in the afternoon. He also told me that if I ask nicely enough, I might have a higher chance that you'll at least consider my request. Do you think we can make it work somehow? Please let me know, I'm looking forward for your reply. Have a nice day."

I had no idea if this Felix dude was going to reply at all. Was my request considered nice enough? I hoped for the best as I waited for his response.

I was pleasantly surprised when I felt my phone buzz in my hand just about 10 minutes later.

"Evening Christopher. This is Lee Felix. Changbin already told me that I should expect a message from his friend. Nice to meet you and your pup Brodie. I looked through my schedule and it seems I might have time to take care after Brodie between 1-3pm during weekdays. Let me know if the time suits you. You might also want to know that I charge weekly. Additional details regarding the day care are discussed in person. Looking forward for your response."

I wasted no time with my reply.

"That sounds great! Do you think we could discuss the details tomorrow afternoon?"  
  
"I'm happy to hear that the time suits you. I suggest that we meet somewhere close to your house. Just send me the location. I have time between 6-7pm. How does that sound?"

"Deal! Here's the location link. It's a small café in front of my apartment complex. Look for the sign that says 'Sam's coffee'. I would be there around six. See you tomorrow."

"I know that place! They have the best cookies in town, I swear to god! See you there."

  
I took Brodie for an hour-long morning walk in a nearby dog park. Back at home, we also practiced commands for a while and then moved on to the kitchen where he waited for me to prepare his breakfast. Just a bowl of crunchy kibble served together with some canned dog food, nothing fancy.

  
After I took care of him, I left for work. It always broke my heart a little when I had to leave Brodie behind, but I soon shifted my thoughts to something more positive. _At least I can count on Felix now to keep him company_ , walking towards my car I clasped my palms together with excitement.

  
I arrived at Sam's a couple minutes before six. I looked around and briefly checked the tables but there wasn’t really anyone that, in my opinion, could be Felix. It made me realize that I basically know nothing about him. But I knew something. Something important.

  
I approached the front counter, smiling.

  
"Caramel latte please. Oh, actually", I hesitated for a while but decided to alter my order a bit, "you know what? Two of those please. I'll also have two chocolate chip cookies, thanks a lot".  
  
I wasn’t really sure about the coffee choice, but I knew those cookies are going to gain me a few karma points. I picked a nice table for two near the entrance door. That way, it would be easier for us to find each other.

  
I checked my phone. Ten minutes after six. I decided to text Felix.  
  
"Waiting for you at Sam's. Is everything alright?"

I've received a reply seconds later.

  
"I'm terribly sorry. Almost there. Who should I look for?"

  
A feeling of relief washed over me. Only then I noticed how nervous I was. Should I be nervous? I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was that caused me to suddenly feel very exited but also stressed at the same time. Was it because of the latte? Screw some latte, I'll just down both of those if Felix doesn’t like my pick.

  
_Chill, Chris, it's just a dude that's going to take care of Brodie. I'm basically his customer, I'm the one offering a job opportunity_ , but it didn’t seem to help and so I continued to struggle internally.

I typed in a quick message.

  
"Bleached out hair, sitting right next to the entrance. The first thing you'll notice would most likely be my hell of a huge nose", I noticed the slight tremble of my hands as I typed the letters in. I reached out for my latte, my mouth suddenly dry as hell. A mistake I would regret in a second.

  
As I was taking a sip, I noticed someone approaching the door. In came a ridiculously handsome and easily enough the hottest eye candy of a boy that I've ever seen in my whole life. And upon seeing him, I literally started choking. Our eyes met at the very moment that my latte decided to fight back my gag reflex and shoot straight back to my mouth. Out it found its way, a continuous stream of caramel flavored coffee spilling all over the table in front of me. The last thing I saw before I literally started coughing out milk infused coffee beans was Felix's horrified reaction, eyes filled with terror as his hands automatically sprang up from his sides to cover his gaping mouth. The amount of shock in his eyes was just so real that even though I was literally coughing my insides out, I couldn’t help the bursts of laugh that occasionally escaped my throat in between the choking.

  
Standing still for what felt like a solid minute, most likely too shocked to really do anything but stare in pure horror, Felix finally snapped out of his trance and jumped right behind me. He started slapping my back with a crazy amount of force like he was about to slap every last drop of the liquid out of my system. Something felt weird though, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on just yet.

  
Few moments later, the choking and coughing was finally coming to an end. Felix noticed too and instead of continuing to slap the living shit out of me, his hand started to rub soothing circles into my abused back.

  
"Dude is you all right? Can you breath?" Still a little breathless, I at least managed to produce a nod. Pointing at the seat right in front of me, I urged him to sit down. The hand on my back hesitated for a split second, its movements stopping abruptly. That's when I realized what felt so odd about Felix's touch in the first place. I didn’t even have to actually look at them to find out that his hands were probably the smallest ones in the entire universe. Let me repeat myself, THE SMALLEST ONES IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING UNIVERSE.

  
If I could choose a superpower right now, I would probably- No, for sure I would go for the one that makes you freaking disappear like a cloud of dust in a millisecond. One fucking poof and you'll vanish into the atmosphere like a fart.

  
I watched him as he slowly lifted both of his hands on the table. _Oh fuck, not those tiny fucking hands again_ , I looked up in search of his face. I noticed how his still a little concerned gaze studied my facial expression. I had to admit, I couldn’t take the stare for more than a few seconds. Deciding to break the silence, I reached out my hand toward him awkwardly.

  
"Uh, I-, I'm sorry for th- Yeah. That. I should have waited for you before drinking the coffee", I didn’t know what else to say. This was already as awkward as it could get.

  
His first reaction to my rambling was something I was not yet prepared for. Felix smiled at me. And if his smile wasn’t the highlight of the day then I don’t know what else was. I tried to say something, anything. But for some reason, all the words in the world suddenly seemed to be trapped inside my mouth. Not sure what to do, I felt myself smile back.

  
"So, Chris", I watched how his lips slowly produced my name, "should we just start discussing our matter?"

I liked the way he spoke. It's just that the tone of his voice didn’t quite match the soft features of Felix's face. There was something familiar in the way he spoke though. Maybe it had something to do with his accent?

  
"Yeah, of course. Of course", I said, catching a hold of my cup. Felix's eyes seemed to follow the motion of my hand. Only then he finally noticed the cookies with latte which lied on the table in front of us. He was about to say something to me, but I was quicker this time.

  
"Not sure if you like, drink coffee or not, but this one here is my favorite", I also pushed one of the cookies towards him. "I know you like these though. Please, help yourself."

"Thanks, man. That's-, I appreciate it!" And there was the smile again. Karma points earned.

  
Having a conversation with Felix was so pleasant. I imagined, it must have been because of his outgoing personality and genuine interest in connecting with other people. He probably had a lot of friends in his life, Changbin being just one of the many.

  
We mainly discussed my dog, Brodie, how I want him to be taken care of, if I'm interested in implementing any sort of training into his routine and such.

  
"I mostly focus on behavior modification and taking care of older dogs", Felix told me while explaining what exactly his job entailed, "but I guess I'll make an exception with Brodie. He's still young and full of energy, so I'll make sure to mentally stimulate him as much as possible. Is he food motivated?"

  
"Very much", I said in a reassuring voice.

  
Felix also told me that in order for him to be able to take care of Brodie, I have to entrust him with my apartment key.

  
"Understandably, a lot of dog owners seem to have a problem with this. And I get it, not everyone likes their living space being invaded by a stranger", I said that I didn’t mind giving him my spare key. I guess you could say that I trusted the guy. Not that I had any other choice anyway. He offered his services at a reasonable price, plus he had a lot of experience with dogs. I definitely preferred Felix over some overpriced doggie day care facility where I would have to take Brodie by myself and also pick him up after work almost every single day. It was much more convenient this way no matter how you looked at it.

  
"Can't wait to meet him. Do you have his photo?" I scrolled through my gallery and showed Felix a couple of pictures of Brodie that I took over the span of the last few weeks or so.

  
"I love him very much, he's been keeping me company throughout the lockdown."

  
"He's very sweet. I completely get it", his hands found its way to the remains of his caramel latte. He brought the cup to his lips and swallowed down the rest of the liquid. "My life would be nothing but boring without my four dogs", he studied the glass for a second, then turned to me only to find out a surprised but mostly concerned expression on my face.

  
"How in the world can you manage four dogs at once?" He didn’t respond at first. He simply smiled. It was a small smile, almost like to himself and himself only, but I didn’t miss the tiny quirk on both sides of his lips.

  
"I will tell you some other time", I wonder what he meant by other time. Like when? Tomorrow, one week later, or a month? Will I ever have a chance to meet him like this? Just the two of us? I was hoping to see him soon, to stay in touch, to get to know him more. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

  
"Oh really? Is that other time going to happen soon?" The thought escaped my mind. I said it. Out loud.

Felix tapped the fingertips of his right hand on the table lightly. He looked at me one last time before straightening up. "You have my number, use it. If needed", and I could have sworn he smirked. And somehow, it definitely didn’t feel like - hey man, just text me if you ever wanna discuss dog care. It was more like, I don’t know - hey man, just text me if you ever wanna discuss anything other than dog care - type of suggestion. Maybe I was just imagining things. I hoped for the exact opposite though. Why he couldn’t be straighter with me?

  
It was past seven when we finally parted ways. I couldn’t really tell just how much Felix messed with my head yet. What I knew was that not thinking about him was not going to be an easy task.

  
I woke up with a tingling sensation in my limbs. I grabbed the inside of my thigh just to try scratching the feeling away then propped myself into a sitting position to adjust my sleeping shorts. Never mind, I was hard. Didn’t happen to me quite as much lately. Most of the time, I'd just leave it be. Don’t touch it, let it die out as I do my mourning routine.

Only today, I felt like touching myself. 

  
I stood up, carefully stripped out of my clothes, feeling up my lower belly as I took off the tee. I winced as I tried to pump it into full hardness. I didn’t want to bother with going through the drawers to fetch a lube, so I spat on my palm and slicked up my erection with spit instead. Felt much better that way.

Relaxing my wrist, I tried to rub the entire length of my cock with a couple of gentle strokes. Then pressed my thumb into the slit to massage the tip too. It felt so good I almost missed the tiny droplets of pre-cum mixing with the leftover spit from before. I smeared it with my fingers over the shaft, tugging at the foreskin a few times before speeding up the pace. With the stimulating sensation that came with the tight grip around my cock, I knew that it wouldn’t take long for me to release my load.

I watched as my chest heaved in between the puffs of breath escaping my mouth, strokes starting to get erratic. As I neared the end, I could hear myself moan a few times before a familiar feeling started to build up in my lower belly. I thought about edging myself but lost it to a very random thought of someone else's tongue pressed flat against the underside of my cock.

  
I came hard with a guttural growl escaping my throat. A sudden feeling of uncomfortable dryness burned down the inside of my mouth. How badly I wanted to cum into someone else's mouth instead of messing my own hand with the sticky white stream of my load. Not like I didn’t have a certain someone in my mind the whole time anyway.

  
After I was done with the shower, I grabbed at my phone, then typed in a quick message.

"Hey, are you in the studio?"

I didn’t have to wait long for the reply.

"Chan, it's Saturday…"

Well, that didn’t say much. I tried again.

"Changbin, are you in the studio right now?"

"Christ, yeah, why?"

"On my way", was all I texted back.

And even though I usually didn’t come to the studio during the weekends that often, something was dragging me there today. I was in need of a distraction, someone else's company. I packed some stuff, put a leash on Brodie and half an hour later, we arrived at the recording studio.

  
"So, Chan, what brings you here on this maddeningly hot Saturday morning?" Changbin didn’t even bother looking up from the screen of his studio laptop to properly greet me. From what I texted him just moments ago, he probably kind of guessed I was coming anyway. "Hm?" He only tore his gaze off the screen when he felt something cold and wet sniff around his calf. Brodie's nose.

  
"Hey there, buddy. Don’t scare me like this", he waved his hands in front of Brodie then proceeded to pet him on the head gently.

  
"I could ask you the same question", I looked around the room and saw a sleeping bag lying across the wall to my right. "Is that a sleeping bag? Did you sleep here?" Not that Changbin was not known for staying at the studio even after working hours. I had to admit it was something like his second home. He was spending a ridiculous amount of time in there.

  
"I was working on a thing, then it got late. So, I stayed overnight", I could hear by the hoarseness of his voice that he was tired. Overworking himself again. Even though I loved producing music, I still at least tried to have a life outside of my job. Other interests and stuff. Like for example, taking care of my dog. That helped a lot. Without Brodie, I would be probably pulling all nighters in the studio as well.

  
"What thing?"

  
"The mixtape", he stood up and made a few steps towards the kitchen. "Want some coffee?" He asked, finally locking eyes with me. The bags under his eyes looked even more prominent from the current angle. I wanted to tell him that he should go home and rest, but I knew him too well. He wouldn’t listen to me. Or tell me to leave him alone. Something along those lines.

  
"Yeah, thanks", I plopped onto his chair, picking up Brodie as well and situating him on my lap.

  
"So, are you going to tell me why you decided to come or what?" The smell of coffee started to fill up the room. He poured a generous amount of it into one of the cups then passed it to me moments later.

  
"No particular reason, I guess", I said, bringing the cup closer to my face to sniff its contents.

  
"Hmm...Is that so?" He sounded like he wasn’t buying it. Like he was expecting me to start ranting about something or ask him to do me a favor of some sort. None of that though. At least not today.

  
"Yeah, anyways. Thanks for the number, you know. The one for the dogg-"

"Felix's?"

"Uh-huh", I nodded as I took a sip of my coffee.

"And did you ask him to take care of your dog?"

"Yeah, we actually met yesterday an-"

"Woah, you really needed that dog nanny fast, didn’t you?" It started to piss me off that Changbin had to barge in on every sentence of our conversation like that.

  
"Dog care assistant", I snapped back a little too hastily.

"Yeah, whatever you call that. So, he agreed?"

  
"I mean, he did. He'll start taking care of Brodie from Monday", I tried to sound casual about it but deep down I was so happy about the fact that Felix decided to agree that it was hard to hide the sudden wave of excitement that flushed over my entire face. I gave Brodie a small scratch behind his fluffy ear.

  
"I see", was all Changbin decided to add to our conversation. At least that's what I thought because the next thing, he said something that made him smile to himself, "having a thing for Felix already, huh?"

  
"And how would you know?" I asked him, taken a bit aback by his straightforward observation.

"So you do", he said that like I just proved his point. Like he knew something that for some reason wasn’t obvious to me at all.

"What does that even mean Changbin? Why would you even-", I paused to let out a deep sigh. "Unless you're not telling me something that I should be aware of", I waited for him to spill the tea. I was pretty sure something sketchy was going on with how he was eyeing me all of a sudden.

  
"Relax, I was just fucking around. Unless-", and he sized me up with this smirk-ish kind of look and all I wanted to do was to wipe it out off of his face because man, that gave me some serious creeps.

  
"God, I just don’t get you sometimes. Do me a favor and give me a break", I wonder if I was being too obvious about the whole Felix situation. That couldn’t be the case. On the other hand, he was friends with Felix too. At least that’s what he claimed. Did Felix tell him something about me? I was suddenly very aware of the jittery feeling in my gut. _Is it because of the caffeine?_ I wondered.

  
Nobody said anything for a while. I decided to check out Changbin's progress on his latest tracks while scribbling down some ideas that could help him fill out some blank spaces in between the verses. Just small improvements here and there though. In the end, it was Changbin's mixtape, not mine.

  
A couple of times though, I saw him opening his mouth slightly, like he was about to say something, but decided against it. Not once. But like, thrice already. I waited. He looked like he was thinking, the though gradually growing louder each time he opened his mouth only to close it again.

  
He seemed startled when I finally asked him what's on his mind.

"I was just thinking-" but then he went silent mode again and it made me grow even more impatient.

"Thinking about?" I tried coaxing him a bit. Maybe it was because he was tired. He sure looked like he needed a proper rest.

  
At last, he finally opened his mouth to finish whatever thought he had started, "are you free tomorrow morning?"

_Seriously? He must be tired as fuck if asking me THIS took him forever._

  
"At your service, my friend", I said, almost cracking a laugh. Changbin didn’t seem to catch up on the amused tone in my voice or decided not to comment on it. Instead, he served me one of those judging stares of his, the one with the quirked brow.

  
"Good, come pick me up tomorrow before nine. Wear something presentable. Not the usual eboy shit show you opt for whenever you feel like willingly embarrassing yourself out in public", he dead ass said this without a single hint of sarcasm. And with a completely straight face, on top of that. If I wasn’t used to him bitching about my choice of clothes way too often, I would have probably cried. Fighting about it was pointless too. I decided to let his whole-hearted remark slide.

"Can you be more specific or is that all I'm gonna get?"

"I told you all the details you need. I can't risk you chickening out last minute", he moved where I was sitting and gave Brodie another pat on his forehead, "you can bring your dog too. It's a dog-friendly event, I guess."

"Seriously Changbin? You tell me pretty much nothing and expect me to show up in the morning for god-knows-what reason? Like hell I will!"

  
Well yeah. Maybe I did come pick him up in the end. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was one of my closest friends, together with Jisung, I would have ditched the whole thing. But here I was, sitting in my car with Brodie secured on the back seat, waiting for Changbin to join us. He stepped out of the entrance of his apartment complex moments later.

  
"Get ready", he said while fastening his seat belt, "we're going to Philadelphia."

"What? Why Philadelphia?" I asked, chances of my question being actually answered still kind of low.

"I bought us tickets for a show, no more questions", he traced his lower lip with the tip of his forefinger. A sign that told me he was nervous.

  
"You're really out here testing my patience, aren't you?" I let out a frustrated sigh but handed, no, practically tossed at him my GPS in an almost passively-aggressive manner. "Give me the directions then."

  
The rest of our journey progressed more or less in silence. I was not allowed to ask any more questions about our little trip to Philadelphia anyways. Changbin, on the other hand, looked like he was trapped in his thoughts, spaced out and not in the mood for any sort of conversation. When the silence became too unbearable, I turned on the car radio and entertained myself with tapping the melodies down onto the steering wheel.

  
We were just passing Trenton on our right when suddenly Changbin announced what we will be turning right in a while.

  
"But Philadelphia is the other way", I said in an uncertain tone. Not because I wasn’t sure which way Philadelphia is. I've been there quite a few times myself. "Are you sure?" I questioned him without taking my eyes off the road.

  
"I am. Just speed up man, I want to at least be there on time", another thing Changbin despised me for apart from my fashion sense. My driving. And that brat didn’t even have a license himself.

  
Another forty or so miles later, Changbin claimed that we were close. He made me park my car in front of a huge Expo Center which was crowded with people considerably. And like, dogs. There were dogs everywhere.

  
I stared at him, literal question marks floating above my head.

  
"Explain", I demanded, the imperative in my voice almost too acute. I waited a few seconds for Changbin to gather his thoughts and to finally gave in.

  
"It's Brodie's lucky day. Get him ready, it's gonna be the first dog show of his life", I couldn’t believe my ears. Changbin, who didn’t care about dogs at all, the very same Changbin that got upset for a whole week after I told him that I'll be taking care of a dog from now on, Chagbin, who-

"I asked you to explain, not to confuse the fuck out of me", judging by how he suddenly tried to make himself even smaller in the seat by shrinking his shoulders and looking at me from under his bangs with a bewildered expression on his face, he must have been a little taken aback by my reaction. He looked pressured. Uncomfortable. I sighed for what felt like a millionth time that day.

  
"There's something going on. Something that you're not willing to discuss with me. And that's fine. I won't be that kind of a friend who gets pissed just cause his mate ain't telling him why we had to drive for almost two fucking hours to see a dog show expo. And for fucks sake don’t try to drag Brodie in this or else I'll just-"

  
I watched him swallow rather dryly. Honestly, if Changbin let himself be yelled at like this and didn’t even think about defending himself, he clearly must have known that he's in dip shit. Plus he obviously wanted to see that dog show. Which was, in all seriousness, the most hilarious part of this whole stupid argument. CAUSE HE FUCKING HATED DOGS. Got it?

"Right. Are you done?" I heard him say.

"I'm done. Under one fucking condition", great, swearing was starting to catch up on my sighing count.

"You're gonna be carrying Brodie in his bag for the whole time."

"Chan-"

"Take it or-"

"Chan-"

"Silence!" He finally stopped chanting my name. Instead, he death-glared.

"The bag is in the back of the car. I'll hear no more of this bullshit. Let's just go. I kinda wanna check that place out too."

Was he happy about it? No. Did I just use my dog Brodie to take revenge on him? Absolutely.

  
We handed our tickets to the staff in the entrance booth and walked inside the crowded space of the main hall. I also picked up an event bulletin in order to check out the program for the day. Sunday was the last day of this exposition. I searched for something on the list that seemed worth my attention and made a mental note that there was going to be a competition in dog agility around three in the afternoon. _I'd like to see that_ , I said to myself.

  
Surprisingly, Changbin seemed like he knew where he was going. Like he already knew this place from before. With Brodie dangling off of his left shoulder, stuffed in the bag like that, the duo seemed kind of comical to me. Changbin led the way, squeezing through people, even bumping to some of them as he tried to pass the seemingly endless hoard of dog owners and enthusiasts that looked like they were having the time of their lives. I wasn’t particularly interested in dog shows. I had Brodie, but it never crossed my mind that I should actively strive fto participate in any sort of dog events or competitions, or whatever shows meant for people who don’t really mind spending a fortune on their fluffy companions.

  
We stopped in front of a small shop selling various kinds of-  
I don’t know. It looked like dog training equipment, some of the things that I was already familiar with like front clip harnesses, head halters, slip leashes. That kind of stuff. But then I saw some scary looking things like really heavy looking chain-like collars, collars with spikes? Well, whatever that was, that thing wasn’t going to touch Brodie even for a second. I liked his light blue collar with a big metallic heart in its front a little too much to exchange it for some BDSM scary shit from this shop.

  
I haven’t even noticed in the midst of my exploration that Changbin entered the shop and had a small conversation with the staff behind the counter. I only noticed the interaction when he waved the black haired man a goodbye and subsequently grabbed me by the wrist, leading us through the crowd with what felt like unconcealed intention.

  
He led me to a smaller hall, not so crowded like the one before, with lots of chairs around what looked like a show ring of some sort. I saw Changbin look around until his eyes found what they were probably looking for because then, for the first time of the day, he produced a small smile on his face and practically dragged me to the first row right in front of the exhibition ring.

Magically, there were two empty seats waiting for us in what looked like a VIP zone for the onlookers. Not only that, but there were our names written on a small piece of paper taped onto them. There was it, Christopher Bang, black on white, taped on a shit piece of plastic chair, right in the front row.

  
_You almost can't make this up, shit must be a real coincidence_ , I thought, inspecting Changbin's face with a considerable dose of suspicion. But his stoic expression didn’t give me much to work with, so I decided to bring it up. With caution, of course.

  
"So funny that they somehow knew we were coming. They even gave us the best seats in the row. No, in the entire fucking hall even", I bumped him with my shoulder a little too forcefully for it to turn into a casual interaction.

"Quiet down, I am not afraid to beat the shit out of you in a public place", he said that with a definite tone. Not even a trace of playfulness there. Flat out warning.

  
"I would much rather like you to explain to me what are the benches scattered around the ring for", there were several of them. All looking exactly the same. I wondered if the dogs were going to stand on them like on some sort of showcase pedestals.

"Do I look like I fancy these kinds of events or what?" He said that with a raised brow then gritted his teeth to probably suppress an oncoming temper tantrum.

  
"Exactly Changbin. You stick out like dog's balls on this very event-"

"You can be such an annoying brat sometimes. I should have asked Jisung instead. Thought you were the more self-restrained between the two of you. Guess I was wrong."

  
"I don't know man", I almost let out a squeak there, "it's just so weird to me that you decided to take me to a dog show out of nowhere", just to justify my increasing frustration with Changbin's consistent avoidance directed towards any indication of my hopeless attempts to make him explain himself – I knew him for so fucking long that it made me think that I _deserved_ at least some sort of an explanation. It didn’t strike me at first that maybe Changbin was just trying to be a good supportive friend who pushed away his priorities and decided to spend a nice weekend with his dog-loving friend. Okay, maybe I wasn’t ready to believe that, like ever. But deep down I knew I was being too over-dramatic about the whole situation and that Changbin just didn’t deserve to be treated like this. When I thought about it, selfishness aside, I'm sure he had his reasons for being so secretive and cautious about – well, whatever he was trying to hide from the world. I decided it was about time to suck it up and give him some space. He would talk when he wants to.

  
Finally, the dogs appeared together with their handlers or what were they called and took up all the space on top of the bench-pedestal things.

  
I had to admit, I wasn’t exactly educated enough when it came to dog competitions and stuff. Looked like a breed show to me. All the dogs competing seemed to be of same sort. Breed, I mean. Small, white and with ridiculously long and shiny coats. All of them wearing ribbons on top of their heads. Presumably for a practical reason, but it came with a cute little touch to their, otherwise hilarious appearance.

  
It took a few minutes for the handlers to set up their dogs into the preferred positions. I guess they had a name for it as well. Hand stacking, maybe? But I wouldn’t bet my life that it was so.

  
Suddenly, a good portion of the audience went quiet. I turned my head towards the ring to see what might have been the cause of the sudden shift of focus. Even Changbin's gaze seemed to be glued onto something specific that only came into my sight moments later.

Or should I rather say – someone?

  
I dare say that Felix's unexpected appearance among the handlers hit me like a truck. I couldn’t help it but stare at him in awe.

“I will now start the overall evaluation of Maltese dogs according to the American Kennel Club breed standard”, the audience started clapping but I was being too awestruck to join the applause. All I could do at that moment was stare with my mouth agape.

I watched as Felix approached the first bench and took a detailed look at the dog posing in front of him. The dog didn’t move an inch, not even when Felix brought his hands to its back and mapped the entire dog's body down to its tail. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for or what exactly the whole evaluation process entailed. I wasn’t even checking out the dog in the first place. My eyes were entirely focused on Felix.

I took a good look on the side of his face which was facing me. His locks were beautifully sleeked back with a nicely shaped undercut on both sides, hair bleached a platinum blonde. Not like mine, which was almost like a darker shade of honey.

His body was covered with a set of formal clothes. He was wearing a silky-smooth button up with long sleeves. The fabric clutching tightly to his wrists was sort of ruffled at the edges, the style of the shirt only adding to the ethereal beauty of his delicate features. The top piece was loosely tucked into the hem of his black pants, hugging the lower parts of his body tightly. Who could even pay attention to the dogs, when a whole Lee utterly beautiful Felix was standing right in front of them?

Something snapped in me. His mere presence made me feel like something was hitting the pit of my stomach with great force, causing my insides to flutter uncontrollably. At that moment though, I was too overwhelmed to decide whether I felt comfortable enough to settle down with the feeling or not.

Why was I being so captivated by another male's beauty? I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to find out. I should have felt ashamed. Instead, I felt deeply enamored. That is, there was something about Felix, that made it very hard for me to feel anything less but attraction towards him.

I was so lost in thoughts that I completely missed the way Changbin was observing me, amusement in his eyes evident. I nearly jumped when his hand landed on top of my thigh with a smack.

  
“Let me guess. Seems like you can't take your eyes off of number six. Am I right?” I wasn’t following. My mind was still wandering somewhere else entirely. I stared him down in an absent-minded way. “Or wait, no. You probably like the one with the fine ass more. Great choice. But like, call it a day already. Or else you're gonna start drooling soon.”

I thought about saying something to at least pretend like I was trying to defend myself. He wasn’t exactly far from truth, but the way he was so extraordinarily sure of himself was pissing me off on a different level. “Changbin, it's a dude. And a friend of yours. Don’t you think it's kind of arrogant, lewd even, to talk about Felix like he was some kind of a-“ I panicked. Felix was now approaching the bench that was being the closest to us.

  
“Some kind of a?” He repeated after me.

  
“Well, you get the point…” I managed to stammer out before briefly locking eyes with Felix's. He gave us a knowing smile before turning back to the next handler and his dog.

  
Changbin noticed him as well but he wasn’t done poking at the issue just yet. He shuffled in his chair, bringing himself closer to me.

  
“You know what's funny? I don’t think that Felix knows just how confused people can become around him,” he whispered to my ear in a suggestive voice. And I would be lying if I said it didn’t pique my interest.

  
“Oh yeah? Almost seems like you're telling me from a personal experience,” I shot back exasperatedly.

That actually made him calm down a bit. He just shrugged it off like he suddenly wasn’t so interested in getting on my nerves anymore.

The evaluation seemed to be coming to an end. The only thing left was to announce the winner of this particular category.

Changbin got up immediately after the formalities were over. He grabbed Brodie with him as well and went after Felix to properly greet him. I wasn’t in such a hurry but eventually made my way towards them as well.

I saw Felix throwing himself into Changbin's arms for a brotherly hug. He patted Felix's back with the palm of his hand several times before withdrawing from the tight embrace. They both turned to me then. I greeted Felix with a small wave and a sheepish smile, then closed the remaining distance and took up the space beside Changbin, not really knowing where else to stand.

“Nice to see you so soon Chris! How are you enjoying yourself so far? Changbin told be that you were extremely excited as this is your first dog show ever, “ I held myself back from serving a look full of puzzlement towards Changbin. I didn’t even know that I'll be here in the first place. I produced a rather awkward smile instead.

  
“Well, I have to say I was surprised when I saw you entering the ring. I had no idea I'll be meeting you here!” So far, Felix's appearance was the best part of the whole dog show. Not that I was ever going to tell him. But I suddenly wasn’t so mad at Changbin for dragging me all the way to Philadelphia just to see a couple of pampered, fancy looking dogs.

  
“Is that so? I assumed that Changbin here would at least mention that to you,” the tables seemed to have turned now. We both turned to Changbin with the same look of confusion on both of our faces.

  
“Oh, really? That's so weird. I could've sworn that I mentioned it the other day,” I wanted to kick this fake whore straight in the balls so bad. He must have planned this. There's no other explanation for it.

  
“Felix? I kind of wanna-“ I noticed the slightly uneasy tone of Changbin's voice. He didn’t even have a chance to finish off the sentence when he was cut short by Felix's cheerful intervention.

  
“Oh, of course! He should be in the groomer's parlor. Look for the kiosk number twenty-three,” I felt kind of left out. I didn’t have a single idea of what was currently going on.

  
“Tha-, thanks a lot,” Changbin turning out to be a stuttering mess was new too.

  
“Nah, you're welcome. He would be happy to see you,” I wondered who they were talking about. I figured this must have had something to do with the real reason why I was being dragged here almost against my own will.

  
Changbin was already on the leave when I remembered that he still had my dog with him.

“Hey! My dog! Give it back!” I shouted at him.

“I'm borrowing him for a while if that's fine!”

  
“It's not fine!” I was ready to go after him when suddenly, I was grabbed by the wrist and guided gently towards the opposite side of the hall. Felix's touch was delicate, yet unavoidable. He walked me out of the show ring like I was being led on a leash. A feeling of an otherwise gentle sensation, which could have easily turned into a painfully tightening grip around my neck, if I decided to pull on the leash and misbehave. Felix made me obey his command before I even got a proper chance to fight him back. This way, he made me forget about the little misunderstanding with Changbin in a mere second.

  
“Let him have Brodie just for this time. If you don’t want to do it for Changbin, do it for me,” I raised my brow at the suggestion. Yet the sound of his voice was so sweet, it immediately made my heart a tad softer.

  
“I'm not really mad at him,” well, that wasn’t exactly the truth, but Felix didn’t have to know the whole story, “It's just that he's not-, he's kind of, I don’t know what to think of it,” Felix responded with an empathetic nod. My eyes lingered on the wrist, still being held down in place by Felix's tender grip. He noticed and immediately let go. It crossed my mind that I wanted him to hold me like that for at least a little longer.

“How about I show you around in the meantime? Would you like that?” He asked me, his lower lip practically trembling with excitement.

  
“Sounds like fun,” I was sold. Any amount of time spent with Felix was welcomed.

“Yeah. So basically, what you saw earlier was a conformation show. This season, I was a judge for the Maltese breed standard. And several others as well,” we were talking various things, mostly about dog shows. Felix seemed to be happy to explain whatever questions I had. I also learned a couple of things about him and his career as a dog trainer.

“My parents gave me Buggs – my first dog ever – when I turned fourteen, I think. He's ten now, a true grandpa. But that's when it all started. I had a hard time raising him the right way. At that time, I didn’t know a thing about dog training,” the thought made him smile nostalgically, “I signed up for a dog training course near my hometown. I wasn’t any good at the beginning, but my coach told me I had it in me. She called it – 'the dog training spirit' or something like that,” now he was laughing at himself. “She's one of the few people I truly miss whenever I find myself thinking about home. Oh, by the way, I'm originally from Australia,” I gasped in shock. Now it all made sense to me. The thing I had for Felix's accent and why it felt so familiar when I heard him spoke to me for the first time.

  
“No way! I'm from Australia too! I knew something felt right about the way you spoke to me…”

  
“Changbin mentioned it before. That you're from Australia as well, so yeah. I already kind of knew,” I wondered what else Changbin's big mouth managed to spill about me.

  
“Oh, really? Last time I checked, he wasn’t a part of Jisung's gossip-girl club yet. I guess things have changed,” I mostly meant it as a joke. However, after seeing Felix's reaction, which could be described as slightly flustered - to say the least - I almost wanted to take the words back.

He pretended to clear his throat. For a brief moment, I thought I made him upset. He started walking towards a huge door with a sign above them that said – DOG AGILITY – on it. Only when we were about to enter, he suddenly said, “He shared only sweet things about you though,” and I could have sworn that I caught a glimpse of his cheeks turning red. He rushed through the door and before I knew it, I lost him in the crowd.

I looked around the hall to see if I can find him. It wasn’t particularly hard for me to locate him, his bleached-out hair sticking out like a sore thumb. He was occupying an otherwise free bench near the entrance of an obstacle course. There was a dog running full speed through a tunnel, then flying above a set of barriers with admirable precision. I remembered how much I wanted to check out the agility competition when I saw it on the bulletin before. I happily crossed the remaining distance that separated me from Felix and sat down beside him. We watched as another dog, this time – a Border Collie, I think – entered the course and eagerly waited for his handler to give him some sort of a sign to start the race.

  
“That looks like a lot of fun for the dog. Not so much for the handler though,” I said, cracking a laugh.

“It is a lot of fun!” He agreed, “and a good way to exercise a high energy dog.”

“Have you tried it yourself?”

  
“One of my dogs used to compete a lot. My girl Princess. She becomes a dog owner's worst nightmare if not exercised properly,” now that I think about it, I can't say that Brodie exactly represents an epitome of a behaved dog. Especially if I don’t give him enough attention throughout the day. He sometimes chews on my kicks when he's bored or runs around the apartment like crazy, bumping into stuff, barking. In other words - creating chaos and sending me into panic mode.

  
“Maybe I should try with Brodie too. I don’t hate the idea of him becoming a little more obedient. I wonder if this could help,” Felix almost jumped from his seat at that, his smile growing wider than ever.

  
“Take my word for it – it will help! And I know a great agility center near my house. That is, if you decide to give agility a chance…”

Was it purely my imagination or was Felix just as thrilled about as I was? I wanted to believe that there's more to it than just our shared enthusiasm for dogs.

“I want to try it. But only if you'll go with me,” there was it again. The bubbly feeling in my chest from before. I looked at him expectantly. I didn’t miss the way he tipped his tongue out, wetting his upper lip, before it slid back into his mouth.

  
“Is that an invitation?” For a second, I thought he was going to say _'Is that a date?',_ and I almost slipped into panic mode. I think it made me blush as well and I hoped it wasn’t showing.

  
“You don’t have to agree if you don’t want to go. I thought maybe…cause you said you-, agility…And you like-, also we both like d-,” Ok, anxiety won.

“I'd love to go Chris.”

I'd love to go Chris. I'd love to go. Chris.

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I was _definitely_ blushing. It was _definitely_ showing. And my heart _definitely_ missed a couple beats just now. Changbin had a point. Was Felix aware of the fact that he just messed with my head with nothing but a string of words? Nevertheless, I at least had something to potentially look forward to.

  
  
  
  
Felix got a text from Changbin around three in the afternoon. He said he'll meet us in a small food court in the back of the main hall. He showed up a couple minutes later and finally gave my dog back.

  
“What happened to him?” I asked, taking him out of the bag and carefully inspecting his freshly trimmed coat. His fur was fluffy, shiny and smelled like freshly cut lemon grass.

  
“He looks adorable! I wanna squish him,” Felix announced, giving Brodie a loving pet under his chin. I reached out to adjust Brodie's little collar but bumped into Felix's hand instead. He accidentally stroked my fingers but withdrew his hand as soon as he realized what had happened.

  
“Sorry,” he mumbled a quick apology while scratching away an itch under his tiny nose covered with freckles.

  
“He asked for you to come as soon as you're free,” I heard Changbin say. Thankfully, he seemed a bit more relaxed now. Not that I wasn’t curious about his little field trip to the groomer's parlor, but I decided to refrain from poking at the issue just yet.

  
“I will. Anyways, I owe you a big thanks. For coming. Both of you. And also, for…well, you know what, Changbin,” I wish I knew what sort of meaning was hidden behind those words. It made me feel out of place. Even if it didn’t have anything to do with me, I couldn’t help but feel like I was just third-wheeling the whole time. It seriously started to get under my skin.

  
“No, I owe you a big one. Not the other way. Anyways, we should be going. Chan?” My gaze shifted towards Changbin automatically. I nodded, not sure what for.

All three of us made our way to the parking lot. Felix also made sure to give Chagbin one last hug before letting him get in the car. I was rearranging some stuff in the back seat when suddenly I felt Felix's hand being pressed onto the small of my back gently. I was starting to get used to his touch. I quickly managed to clip Brodie's seat belt into place and straightened myself up to face him. His entire face was glowing, the light from the sun being absorbed into his skin rather than simply reflecting off of it.

  
“I enjoyed your company Christopher. Have a safe trip. I'll see Brodie tomorrow,” he said while squinting up at me against the sun. I shuffled around a bit to see if I can try casting a shadow on his face, but it only made me move even closer to him. He somehow took it as an invitation and the next thing I knew, Felix was pressing his body onto mine in an unexpected hug. It was short, the movement of his hands embracing me from both sides appearing a bit uncertain, shy almost. I wanted to show him that it's okay to hug. That, from now on, I want to be hugged without the both of us feeling the need of shying away from the embrace _.  
Maybe next time. I'll show him next time_, I though as I watched him move a few steps backwards.

I kept replaying every conversation with Felix in my head for the most part of our journey back. Changbin didn’t seem like he minded the silence. Maybe his mind, I though, was preoccupied too. He possibly might've been daydreaming about his own sort of tête-à-tête, trying to memorize an untold story of a different kind.

Almost a whole week went by with me working at the studio from morning to relatively late hours. Sometimes I left around eight, other times, when it seemed like I was stuck and felt like my work wasn’t progressing that much, I decided to leave a little earlier.

On Thursday, I received a text from Felix around noon.

“Sadly, one of the dogs I was taking care of passed away yesterday. I'm on my way to your apartment right now. Gonna spend some extra time with Brodie instead, if that's okay with you,” I was sure Brodie was going to love the extra attention. That evening, when I came home, I found a note from Felix clipped onto my fridge.

  
It said, “I brought you a small present. Stay hydrated,” and when I looked inside the fridge, I found a box full of freshly cut watermelon pieces in it.

  
The next morning, I decided to put a note on a huge piece of chocolate that was waiting for Felix on a small table next to the entrance door.

  
“Stay sweet,” it said. It might've appeared a bit cringey, but at least I was not going to be there when Felix finds it.

I got a call from him early in the afternoon.

  
“I just want to let you know that I'm taking Brodie to the vet,” I asked him what happened and immediately thought about the worst-case scenario possible.

  
“It seems like he ate a whole pack of chocolate and for a small dog like him, the dosage might be very dangerous, even lethal,” I freaked out. I basically poisoned my dog. I told him I was coming but he wouldn't have it. He said it's part of his job and that my job is to stay at the studio and produce music. He reassured me that he can handle it and told me I wouldn’t be much of a help anyway.

  
“I'll call you after the check-up. Don’t worry, he'll live,” he reassured me, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything after the call. Jisung saw how nervous I was and tried to cheer me up as best as he could.

  
“My dog once chomped down half of my birthday cake. I freaked out and tried to like, make him vomit and stuff. They even had to pump it out of his stomach. But hey, he's still here, I learned my lesson and moved on. Stop beating yourself up, it's useless,” and when he couldn’t look at the state which I was in anymore, he suggested that I should just call it a day and go back home. I couldn’t care less where exactly I was going to beat myself up for failing Brodie as a dog owner. I decided to go home. At least I wasn’t going to be a burden there.

At home, I tried everything I could to distract myself. But the thoughts didn’t stop creeping up on me even for a second. Eventually, the stress started to take its toll. The only thing I could think of before collapsing onto my couch was how exhausted and emotionally drained out I felt. I think I might have fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the cushions.

I woke up to the sound of dog paws tapping onto the surface of my hardwood floor. I opened my eyes slowly, adjusting to the dimly lit space of my living room.

  
“Don’t freak out,” I nearly fell off the couch before I realized it's Felix's voice. He was in my apartment, resting on an armchair near the TV. Possibly keeping an eye on Brodie while I was fast asleep.

  
“Not gonna lie. For a second, I thought you were a ghost,” he laughed at that sweetly, taking no offense whatsoever.

  
“Didn’t want to scare you, I swear. I tried to call you, but you were out of reach. I came here to drop Brodie off and possibly give you some instructions from the vet and I found you, well…like this,” his hand pointed to the sofa. That's when Brodie came up to me, literally jumped on the couch and greeted me happily.

  
“I don’t deserve a dog. I am the worst owner ever,” my head suddenly felt heavy. I was most likely getting a headache.

  
“Trust me. I've seen what a bad owner is capable of. Honestly, some of them made me so mad that I was on the verge of calling ASPCA numerous times. You can't compete against those kinds of fuckers,” Felix must have dealt with some serious cases of animal cruelty for sure. His job wasn’t just about training cute puppies and taking a bunch of dogs for a walk in his free time. He said he specialized in behavior modification and such. I've seen dogs in the shelter that were so abused in the past that gaining their trust back seemed impossible to do. Mostly because they just couldn’t seem to trust humans anymore. I could never bring myself to hurt Brodie, to traumatize him so much that he would eventually turn against me.

  
“I made a terrible mistake, “ I said, standing up to get a cup of water but immediately regretting my decision. The headache was getting worse.

  
“Stay there, I'll bring you some water,” he offered as if he somehow sensed that I'm too tired to even drag myself to the kitchen.

After that, we discussed what happened at the vet. Felix explained the situation to him as well as he could, but what exactly happened was more or less clear. Brodie ate a shit ton of chocolate, end of the story. He took his vitals, did some routine check-up and asked Felix if Brodie could stay there for at least couple of hours just to make sure he's doing fine. Felix agreed to that and asked if he could pick him up later. He had to take care of his own dogs as well and since the vet was fine with it, he made a quick stop at home.

  
“But seriously Felix, how are you still standing? All I did was pity myself and I feel like crap. Meanwhile, you did all the work, took care of everything and everyone and somehow, you still manage to smile through it. Unbelievable,” I couldn’t help it but feel sorry for dragging him into this mess. I appreciated his help so much, but still, it made me feel bad. Like what have I done to deserve all this?

  
“I did it because it's my job. Also, I wanted to do this. Cause it's you-, It's your dog, I mean…” He corrected himself quickly. But I noticed the way he blushed at his little stutter. And to be honest, that made me feel some kind of way.

  
“You know what? Aren't you hungry?” I asked.

  
“What? All of a sudden,” He laughed without giving me a proper answer.

  
“Cause I wanna repay you somehow. What about pizza? Should I order one?” He still didn’t look convinced. I think I was making him confused.

  
“You mean right now?” Okay, he looked totally baffled. And maybe I was enjoying it a little too much to be honest.

  
“Should I go for the insanely big one?”

  
“Wait, wha-“

  
“Coke? Sprite? What should I get?” I was typing the order in with insane speed so as to not give Felix a single chance of turning my offer down. He's gonna get pizza. Period.

  
“Coke, I guess?” He said, unsure.

  
“C'mon Felix, cooperate! Coke then? Are you sure? You don’t sound too convinced,” at this point, he most likely knew already that there's no way out of this and decided to just sit down next to me and help me with the order. We ended up ordering a huge salami pizza and got like two bottles of coke and a bag of chips for free.

  
“Hope you're hungry as hell cause that pizza is bigger than the monster under my bed,” I looked up from the phone to check up on him. One side of his body basically squished onto mine, tiny hands resting on top of his thighs, his head being tilted towards the screen. I was suddenly very aware of the shared warmth of our bodies being pressed together lightly and I wished that the blush which was slowly but surely working its way up my neck wasn’t being too obvious.

  
“I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed,” He sing-sang in a familiar tune.

“Old but gold,” I said and decided to join in on with the singing.

“I'm stuffed mate. One more slice and there's going to be pizza flowing through my veins, not blood,” Felix announced, patting his belly lightly.

“Ugh-“ Same, I meant to say. But it's hard having a conversation when you feel like your stomach is about to explode.

Felix said he needed a rest before driving home, that's how stuffed he actually was.

“Gimme like 20 minutes and I'm out,” he then moved into a more comfortable position and ended up using one of my thighs as a pillow. _Oh no. Is this shit designed to test my willpower or what cause I surrender,_ I thought as I tried my absolute best not to give Felix any idea of what I was currently going through.

  
“Mind if I ask you to pet my hair?”

_Mind if I asjkbshdjf-  
_

Of course I agreed. What else should I have told him? Sorry Felix, it's already too hard for me as it is. No puns, just straight out facts. OF COURSE I petted his hair and damn, I tried to do my best while being at it. And so I stroked and stroked when suddenly a tiny mewl escaped his mouth. I froze, my hand still pressing on his head lightly.

  
“Why are you stopping,” he asked, scrunching up his face in displeasure.

  
“I thought I might've tugged too harshly.”

  
“Don’t worry. You tugged at it the right way. Please, just a little longer,” He begged in a small voice and nearly made my heart stop when he reached out to rest his hand on top of mine. Felix was good at lots of things, I figured, but as of now, him being a tease sky-rocketed on the list in a heartbeat.  
  
 _This guy is either hella smooth or hella clueless_ , I played with this thought for a while then, out of nowhere, decided to conduct a small experiment.

I slowly slid the palm of my other hand from where it was resting up till now and placed it on Felix's neck. He didn’t shy away from the touch, nor did he show any obvious signs of discomfort. A relatively small victory that sort of gave me a very much needed boost of confidence. I knew I had to be gentle when tracing the outline of his Adam's apple. Even the slightest hint of pressure around that particular area could be painful enough. I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to have an excuse to touch him. Feel the warmth of his skin against my own. Absorb it through the tips of my fingers. Just enjoy the sensation while I can. While I'm allowed.

  
His eyes were closed, the skin of his eyelids appearing moist. Glossy, I think, might be the right word for it. I had the urge to press my lips onto his. I tilted my head, the idea of kissing him not leaving my mind for a second, then lowered my face closer to his, eyes studying his lips hungrily. _What if he opens his eyes and finds out. It's written all over your face. Another inch and there will be no turning back,_ but I couldn’t bring myself to close the remaining distance. I had my reasons to be a coward. And I didn’t want to scare Felix away. Or cause him to hate me. No, I-

I saw Felix's jaw going slack, causing his mouth to part slightly. I felt an unexpected puff of breath tickle the area around my nose that caused me to jerk my head away in surprise. Felix didn’t even mind opening his eyes. Whether he did it on purpose or not, I somehow sensed he was aware of the fact that he just caught me, red-handed. The subtle smile on his face was enough to prove it.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bang Chan decides to adopt a dog from a local shelter and soon seeks help in a form of a dog-sitter. He happens to be introduced to a young and impossibly handsome dog trainer, Lee Felix and quickly starts to realize that he is very much attracted to him. Not wanting to scare him away, building up their friendship through hilarious encounters, he wonders what would happen if his secret was revealed to the seemingly oblivious friend that he's very much, in love with.
> 
> Alternatively, Felix waltzes into Chris's life and has no mercy while messing with the pathetic gay side of his poor, sex-starved life.
> 
> This summary needs to be rewritten, I swear to dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work has been pre-written and is contained in three chapters. I'll be adding the last one roughly in about a week. Please consider the tags added above.
> 
> DO NOT REPOST THIS WORK OR SHREK WILL COME GET YOU
> 
> So, I guess second part is out already (contains smut and a lot more explicit language, so have that in mind if you decide to give it a go). Thank you for all your hits and kudos, I really appreciate them. Makes me enjoy writing these series even more. Also, don't hesitate to leave comments, I'd love to know your thoughts about this piece of work, constructive criticism is welcomed as well.
> 
> Enjoy.

Days went by fast and I almost missed the small but steady changes in weather. The temperature was dropping down slowly and it was the time of year when I had to swap my favorite tank-tops for snugly sweaters and fitting leather jackets. And with the change, I decided to go for a new look as well. My honey-like locks were grown out anyway so my hairdresser suggested I should try out a more natural-looking color.

  
“Brown will look great on you, trust my intuition,” he said while trimming away the small hairs around my ears with terrifying precision.

  
“Whatever, just make me look like a person again,” I trusted the guy with all my heart.

  
“And somehow manage to cover up that hideous forehead of yours,” every time. He had to bring it up every single time when I came to get my haircut done. Seriously, he should just get over it already. I have a huge forehead. Bang Chan out.

I chose not to comment on it. I just made sure he caught the dramatic eye-roll that I decided to offer instead. He shook his head a few times in faked disapproval then proceeded to spray my hair with some kind of a hair treatment substance.

  
“So, how's my cute friend Jisung doing?” I'm not afraid to claim that Jisung was one of Minho's favorite customers. Jisung loved paying him visits as well, befriending Minho instantly. Recently, he came around even more often, stating that since his hair was growing out so fast, one visit around every two weeks was totally justified. Not like he was going to fool anyone with that half-assed excuse of his. It was pretty much obvious that their friendship was slowly escalating into something more, well…special. I wasn’t blind for Christ's sake! But since theirs little something wasn’t any of my business, I decided to play fair and pretend that I wasn’t aware of just how much these two were interested in each other.

  
“He's fine, I guess? Actually, doesn’t he have an appointment scheduled later this evening?” I could swear Jisung mentioned something about him finally seeing Minho after two weeks. Yesterday, at work.

  
“He called this morning and cancelled,” I could hear the disappointment in Minho's voice, “he said something about his dog not feeling well,” he concluded with a pout.

  
“Seriously. Does the guy think he has no friends or what?” I instantly fished for my phone from inside my back pocket.

  
“What are you doing?” he asked, looking perplexed.

  
“I'm calling him,” I said, tone definite.

  
“Why?” Oh, you know why, Mr. Lee _KNOW_.

  
“Just making sure he's coming today.”

Jisung received an unusually preachy call from me. Eventually, we reached a mutual understanding regarding his little dog issue and agreed that I'll keep an eye on Quokka – his little pug – for the rest of the evening.

  
“I just don’t get why you sound so mad at me,” I could hear through the phone.

  
“Don’t make me give you another lecture about the benefits and downsides of a friendship. See you later, bye,” I half-shouted at him and hung up. Minho stood behind me with scissors in his hand the whole time. I locked eyes with his reflection in the mirror.

  
“Great, I like it,” I said, raking a hand through my freshly cut bangs.

  
Minho just stood there in silence. I guess he was at a loss of words.

It was a fairly ordinary day at the studio when suddenly, Changbin cornered me with an unusual sort of business.

  
“So I've heard that you're pretty much free this weekend,” he started. I wasn’t sure what to make out of it just yet.

  
“Yeah, sort of. Felix had to cancel our plans for our Saturday agility outing because of some dog trainer's conference in Boston. So yeah, I'm free.”

  
“Well, my friend,” and he came up to me just to give me a pat on my shoulder, “I have an announcement,” Changbin making an announcement sounded kind of suspicious, to say the least.

  
“What sort of announcement?” I asked in a careful voice.

  
He studied my face for a while, as though waiting for the right moment to speak up again. Then, after clearing his throat in an ostentatious way, he finally decided to spill his gut, “We're flying to Boston with him.”

  
“Excuse me?” I thought I maybe didn’t hear him right. I'm going to Boston? Said who?

  
“What a great surprise, ain't that right? Just me. And you. And Felix. Together. Boston. No?” Judging by the expression on my face, he must have guessed that it was too much for me to take in at once. What did he expect though? He just casually informs me that I'm flying to Boston for god-knows-what reason and expects me to say a whole-hearted yes or what? That guy has some nerve, I'll give him that.  
And on top of that, he produces a flight-ticket from his bag and hands it to me like nothing!

  
“What do you expect me to just pack my shit with a grateful smile on my face and leave without giving a damn? You're unbelievable,” I tossed the ticket across the nearest table in fury, “Explain you piece of shit!”

  
“First of all, you goddamn son of a bitch, it was Felix's idea, not mine! If I knew you'd start raging like this, I wouldn’t even try bringing it up in the first place, you shithead,” he was fuming. But so was I. Until he dragged Felix in this. This truly was Felix's idea? And if that was the case, why was Changbin the one telling me all this? I had to calm down a bit or else Changbin wouldn´t hesitate to whoop my ass on the spot for going ballistic on him.

Jisung happened to overhear our conversation a decided to step in.

“Hey Chan, Channie,” he put a hand on my back and started to draw soothing circles into the fabric of my shirt, “Changbin maybe didn’t choose the best way to approach you, but it sure doesn’t sound like an entirely bad idea to me. Think about it. He already booked you a ticket, plus you get to spend some great quality time outside New York, don’t you think?” I listened to him only because I knew he had the best intentions in his mind. I wasn’t so sure about the 'quality time' though. Especially now, when all I wanted to do was to show the ticket down Changbin's throat and kick him in the balls. But then I thought about what he said earlier. About this being Felix's idea. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad to leave the town for the weekend in the end.

“Talk it out with Felix if you don’t wanna listen to me. Just so you know, he looked ridiculously excited when he was suggesting this to me. It seems like he really wants us to join him. Go ahead. Ruin his plan if you hate the idea so much. Like the son of a bimhgmh-“ He didn’t get to finish because the next thing he knew, Jisung's palm was covering his mouth firmly and preventing him from pouring more malicious comments into the already heated argument.

  
“I'm sure this tough guy here does not mean it in a bad way after all. Why don’t you both just shut up and let me do my job instead,” I guess even Jisung had his limits. And he wasn’t wrong. We were wasting his time, fighting over something that could easily be dealt with without stabbing at each other's throats.

I reached for the ticket that was now lying on the ground, picking it up and carefully studying it. The flight was to take place on Saturday morning.

There was this part of me that really wanted to tear the thin paper into pieces, mostly because of how badly this argument with Changbin had escalated. At first, I though he's pulling some kind of a prank, dragging me into some sort of a mess that I wasn’t sure if I want to be a part of. But then I remembered the time when he took me to that dog show in Philadelphia months ago. And how I got to spend time with Felix and got to knew him better. I was not ready to admit that I was actually grateful to Changbin. Because somehow, he managed to introduce me to a person, that, over time, turned out to be the most adorable, yet enormously stunning human being that I ever got a chance to befriend.

It all started when he agreed on taking care after Brodie. And to this day, he's still doing a lovely job at being his day care assistant. Without him, it would be much harder for me to make Brodie's daily life better, more enjoyable. There was also the agility club, that I decided to sign up for. Me, Brodie, and of course Felix with his two other dogs – Princess and his small Pomeranian, Mackenzie. We trained religiously almost every week. On Saturdays, sometimes even Sundays as well. It was so much fun getting to know this side of Felix's personality – playful, dog-loving little individual that taught me so much about dogs and even so much more about myself.

As a person, I can't say that I was always happy with the path that I've chosen to follow. The only thing that made sense in my life was to make music. Apart from that I didn’t have much of an idea of who I was or what made me the person I appear to be. The thing is, I can hardly say that I know myself. _Shit, I don't even know what my favorite color is! That's how ridiculous I am._

But I have realized something. With Changbin, it's like having a younger best bro that kinda swears a lot and mostly keeps his private things to himself, but is secretly looking out for you, being the first person to show up when you seek help and reassurance. That's just who he is - a brutally honest person that does not hesitate to yank your rose-colored glasses off and tells you what you need to hear the most when you're basically screwed.  
  
It's a little different with Jisung. One might say that he's just an overly energetic squirrel that runs around doing crazy stuff like – being an absolute genius when it comes to, well, pretty much everything he does. A lot of people though, fail to see the amount of work and effort that he pours into things, which, over time, he comes to master. He's the absolute best when you're stuck with something and it seems like you're at your wits' end and on the verge of breaking into tears. Somehow, Jisung never fails to put you out of your misery with his quick thinking and positive attitude that he seems to be carrying around everywhere he goes.

And then there's Felix. Two words to describe our relationship – a hot mess; just to give you a gist of it. I appreciate him as a friend, I do love him very much as a person that has helped me tremendously throughout these past few months. But I would be a fool if I tried to deny the fact that every time I get to be around him, his mere presence makes my heart running laps all around the place. I don’t think he knows though. That I've been in love with him for the whole time. Christ, I don’t think I knew in the beginning either. There hasn’t been a person in my whole life that made me feel the kind of things I get to experience when I'm with Felix.

One thing was allowing myself to let these feelings in and admitting that I was, indeed, in love with a friend. The other thing though, was the harder part. I was extremely scared of being caught. I guess the fear of destroying our friendship was just so immense that it made me drew a sharp line between the interactions that were considered okay – well, harmless if you will, and those that were crossing the imaginary line. If I happened to slip and caught myself doing or saying something ambiguous, I would try to play it off as an innocent joke. Felix and I would laugh it off and everything would work out just fine in the end. Right?

(Un)fortunately, not so much. To put it mildly, Felix is a very touchy person to be around with. Because the moment you get to know him better and he eventually opens up to you, you start to see some patterns in the way he interacts with you. I don’t know how to put it without sounding like a complete idiot, but sometimes I feel like he showers me with affection the same way he does around dogs. Like he will throw positive reinforcements at me whenever I do something he approves of or likes. His body language also, is very easy to read. When he walks, he wants to be followed, if he stops, he looks at you and expects you to do the same. He almost never talks without facing me first. This one though, is the deal breaker – he loves to receive soothing pets and little scratches behind his ears and he's not afraid to show you how much he appreciates them. And the way he purrs and eases into your touch when you happen to scratch around a particularly sensitive spot – that shit seriously makes my heart itch.

I didn’t know I could become such a soft mess around someone. Felix truly deserved to be happy and have only the best kind of people in his life. _And damn, if he wants me to go to Boston with him, I guess I'm going to Boston then._

I made up my mind. But first, I had to take care of something important.

  
“Jisung? Would it be a problem if I asked you to take care of Brodie for the weekend?” Jisung turned to me, smiling knowingly.  
“That's the spirit my friend!” He said happily, “I would love to, but I'm out of town for the weekend as well,” great. Now I had to think of a different solution. Turned out that Changbin already had it figured out for me.

  
“My friend knows someone that could be just the right person to look after your dog when you're away,” it never ceased to amaze me how Changbin was always ready to come up with a solution when it came to dog care. First with Felix, then this. He was in the business, I guess. Even though his involvement with dogs was questionable, to say the least.

  
“What do you got?”

  
“His name is Kim Seungmin. He's an owner of a renowned dog hotel in Clifton. Although, the place looks more like a palace for dogs, than just an ordinary hotel. I think Brodie might like it there. So? What do you say?”

“Sounds good enough to me. Just…How do you know such a guy?” I had to ask. Couldn’t let that one slide, really couldn’t.

“Felix,” he simply said. I should've seen that coming, “want his number?” I sighed in response. At least Brodie had a safe place to stay at.

I was a little surprised when on our way to the airport, Changbin informed me that Felix already left for Boston yesterday. I thought we were flying together, all three of us. But that turned out not to be the case. Instead, Felix left on Friday morning, together with a friend, I think Changbin said his name was Hyunjin or something.  
  
“Do you know where we're staying?” I said, taking a spot next to the window, leaving Changbin with the aisle seat.  
  
“I don’t know the details. The dude that I mentioned earlier booked it for us.”  
  
“What was his name again?” I asked.  
  
“Hwang Hyunjin,” so far, Changbin fortunately seemed to be in a relatively good mood today. For me, that meant I didn’t have to be so cautious when asking question about the trip. A perfect time for an inquiry, I guess.  
  
“Is he a dog trainer? Like Felix?” He squirmed in his seat a bit, looking for a seat belt.  
  
“No, he's not. He's a,” it took him a second to finish the sentence. Somehow, he looked like he was hesitating, “He's a groomer.”

Wait. Why did it suddenly feel like I was having a _déjà vu_? Could it be…Was it maybe that mysterious dude from the Philadelphia dog show? The one that made my dog into a fluff ball? It had to be.

For now, I decided to keep my curiosity at bay and responded with just a nod. I'll uncover the mystery using some other, more subtle way.  
  
“Uh-huh. And that place, is it like a hotel or?” I changed the topic quickly.  
  
“Yeah, I think. We might share a room. Me and you, I mean.”  
  
“Fantastic news,” I elaborated in a joking tone. That earned me one of Changbin's death stares.   
  
“Well, how about I ask Felix if he wants to switch? You would like that, wouldn’t you?” He deadpanned. I knew he was trying to mock me, but I wasn’t having it.  
  
“Yeah? How about you stay with Felix and I'll take Hyunjin instead?” Not that I said something overly shocking, but Changbin sure looked like I just hit the nail on the head. “What?” I asked when he continued to stare at me without saying anything.  
  
“Nothing,” was all that came out of him. I wondered what kind of a person this Hwang Hyunjin was. Guess it wasn’t going to take long before I finally get to know him. The thought had occupied my mind for the rest of the flight.

To be completely honest, I couldn’t believe my eyes when we finally arrived at the destination. We were standing in front of a huge multi-story building and by the looks of it, it made me want to question a lot of things – my choice of clothes, _I felt like I was being under-dressed for the occasion,_ the amount of cash in my wallet, _can I even afford to stay at this place_?

We sauntered in front of the entrance and peeked through the glass door to check out the impressively designed interior of the main hall. At the reception, the staff offered himself to show us around the hotel and kindly explained where we can find the dining hall, the bar with some sort of a dancing hall, the wellness zone. He even said that there's a swimming pool and that if we wish to use it, they can provide us with towels, swimming shorts and such. He also informed us that our room is located on the 12th floor and is also equipped with a minibar, TV, room-service phone and, hold on tight, a freaking jacuzzi. He really said that there's a whole ass jacuzzi in our room!

Finally, he gave us the key card and asked us to notice the staff using the room-service phone whenever we needed their assistance. _I might want to give Hyunjin a big bro hug for going insane and booking a place like this for us._

Changbin was the first one to enter the room. For some reason, his first reaction came out to be a string of desperate whines.  
  
“What's the matter?” I couldn’t wait to see what our room looked like and so I followed him inside. _Oh, wait. A double-bed. Seems like we have to share._ On the other hand, the size of it was enormous. Four people could easily fit in and still have space to feel comfortable in it. Changbin was just being a crybaby.  
  
“Seriously Chan, if you're gonna keep stealing the blanket from me, I won't hesitate to kick your ass off the bed for one second.”  
  
“Easy boy, I'm not gonna do that. Come check out the jacuzzi. I think it's on the balcony,” I moved towards the back door in order to take a look at our private veranda, “Yep. A whole ass jacuzzi, the receptionist wasn’t kidding,” I stepped through the door and looked around. I couldn’t see much because the hotel itself was surrounded with other tall buildings, but the view wasn’t all that bad. What I really liked were these frosted glass panels on both sides of the balcony, providing a sense of privacy.  
  
“Found the minibar!” Changbin shouted from inside the room, “It's stocked to the brim! Shit, I see some expensive looking bottles.”  
  
I wasn’t much of a drinker but I had to admit the minibar was a nice touch to this place. A random image popped up in my head. It's evening, I'm chilling in my jacuzzi, casually sipping on some expensive ass champagne and taking little bites from a bowl of freshly picked strawberries like I'm some sort of a wannabe douchebag.  
  
Wait, now that I think about it, it was already noon. I was starting to get hungry.  
  
“How about we pick up something at the dining hall? I'm starving,” I said, joining Changbin who was currently unpacking his belongings and organizing them on a nightstand next to his side of our shared double-bed.  
  
“Let's wait for the guys. They should be back from the conference soon.”  
  
“Sure. Are they gonna meet us here?” I asked, shooting a quizzical look at him.  
  
“Yeah. I think their room is the one that's next to ours. They're probably gonna drop off some stuff and pick us up afterwards,” _good_ , I thought. Hopefully, I wasn’t going to wait for too long.

I hopped onto the bed and sprawled my legs across the soft mattress comfortably. With hands bent at the elbows, palms supporting the back of my head to provide some support to my neck, I told myself that a quick nap before lunch would do the trick.  
  
  
There was a knock, stirring my limp body back to life. Changbin was the one to stand up and make a quick series of moves in order to let the visitors in, since it was impossible to open the door from outside without the key card on hand. I frantically tried to ruffle through some strands of hair that got stuck to my forehead during the nap, but not having enough time to straighten out my clothes because the guys were already coming inside and greeting us with big smiles on both of their faces. Felix came in first and immediately made eye contact with me, pausing to take a look at my sleepy, most likely still a bit swollen face. He tightened one of his hands around Changbin in a light hug, and then he released him, stepping to the side to make room for his friend, Hyunjin, who followed him to our bedroom suite, also greeting Changbin with a hug.

Felix's freckles somehow seemed to be standing out on his pale face more prominently today. I left the bed and came up to him, throwing my hands around his slender body in a welcoming gesture.  
  
“It's so nice to see you. I hope you guys are hungry because I'm starving!” and so as to prove a point, my stomach growled so loudly that I was positive everyone in the room could imagine just how empty it was. It made all of them laugh. Even I couldn’t hold it in.  
  
“Okay, let's do that. But let me introduce you to my friend first. Chris, this is Hyunjin. Hyunjin, this is Chris,” I offered a handshake, which Hyunjin took reciprocated gladly, smiling in the process.  
  
The front locks of his thoroughly bleached out hair were pushed back behind his ears elegantly, loose ends reaching just under his chiseled jawline. His long eyelashes, I noticed, complimented the beautiful shape of his light brown eyes. There was a small mole which decorated the underside of his lower eyelid. _Cute_ , my mind blurted out internally. Lips slightly parted, so as to give a peek at the perfect row of shiny teeth hiding behind them, were plush and tinted with some sort of a lip gloss. Their shape was different from Felix's though, but made me wonder what they might taste like nonetheless.  
  
The soft squeeze of his hand felt gentle around my palm, delicate fingers ghosting at the back of my own hand, tickling its skin lightly. I watched as he bit down on his lower lip, a gesture that made me follow his silent stare, debating eyes pointed towards my outstretched arm. He seemed to be studying it intensely. The size difference was obvious. His arm slender, all lean muscle and bones, mine definitely thicker, a lot more muscular, with occasional veins popping out from under its skin. Maybe he stared for a little too long than necessary. But maybe I stared at his slightly feminine features with more appreciation than I was ready to admit.

Another moment passed until I brought myself to finally end the prolonged silence between the two of us.  
  
“Pleased to meet you, Hyunjin,” I said, watching his gaze tear off of our conjoined hands, the expression on his face being a mixture of realization, but mostly just surprise with a slight tint of shame to it.  
  
“More like the pleasure's on my side,” the way he said it definitely made me feel like there's more to his words than just some mere act of politeness, the undertone of his voice hinting at a different sort of an implication to this. Felix and Changbin just stood there in silence, both probably figuring out how exactly should they assess the awkwardly intense interaction that took place between me and Hyunjin not even seconds ago.

“Okay, now. Shall we go?” All eyes were on Changbin now. I'd almost forgotten that I was hungry in the first place. Everyone nodded at him, all of us ready to leave for the dining hall immediately.

Later, after lunch, I proposed we should grab a coffee somewhere outside of our hotel and take a look at the city. The city park wasn’t seriously that far away on foot, but Hyunjin insisted on hailing a cab with such fervor that we all decided to let him have it his own way.

I ended up sharing the back seat with him and Changbin, meanwhile Felix occupied the passenger's seat in the front.

“A caramel latte, please,” the four of us were at the coffee shop on the outskirts of Boston Public Garden, just looking at the menu when I heard myself take the exact same order in unison with Felix. We both laughed at that and repeated our order to the mildly confused cashier once more.  
  
“The two of us will take an iced americano, thanks,” Felix later told me that americano is like Hyunjin's holy water, something he simply can't live without, even for a day. I, in turn, told him that Changbin will drink just about anything that at least faintly smells of coffee beans, not caring about the details much.  
  
“How about you?” He asked and I figured he wanted to know what kind of coffee do I usually have or prepare.  
  
“I don’t have it that often so it's not like I have a preference. I guess I prefer the sweet type?”  
  
“Oh, me too. I like mine warm and sweet,” _just like your smile_ , I thought. Better like his entire being. I had the urge to pinch his cheeks, my mind's wordless attempt at eliciting a smile from him, but I held myself back.  
  
  
  
  
  


A sound of sweeping the fallen leaves off the pavements could be heard somewhere in the distance. I was able to enjoy the walk only because of my thick cotton hoodie, protecting my upper body from the cold autumn breeze which ruffled hairs relentlessly and made people want to stuff both of their hands in whatever pockets available.

I was sure that Changbin's and Felix's jackets were not entirely desired to do the trick though. Not that Changbin was ever going to admit that I was being completely reasonable when I told him, at least twice, to make sure to bring a warm sweater, or even a coat with him. Of course, the fashion diva he was, he only took a thin leather jacket with him.

I could see he was trying his best not to start complaining about the weather, knowing perfectly well that I wouldn’t hesitate to smash facts in his face and irritate him further _. I told you so, dumbass,_ shooting him a look that clearly said just so. He must have guessed what's on my mind because he scoffed, struggling with where to put his hands due to the lack of pockets on his clothes.

Hyunjin must have noticed Changbin struggling too because he approached him, taking his shawl off, “Come here, I'm not gonna just stand here while you're plainly catching a cold."

I knew Changbin was about to make a fuss about it. He was most likely going to refuse wearing the shawl like the stubborn mule he was but whatever sort of complaining he was up to, Hyunjin was already one step ahead and ruthlessly stopped him dead in his tracks, “A-ha, don't even think about it small man. You're wearing it, periodt.”

Okay but he just called Changbin a 'small man' and got away with it like no problem. If I suddenly decided it's a perfect day to die and mocked Changbin's height, he would slaughter me mercilessly. He had approximately zero tolerance for these types of jokes, so Hyunjin calling him small so absentmindedly was an odd occurrence to me. A true story though – Changbin sure was a relatively short human being but was somehow more buff that I'll ever be, I had to give him that.

Before our studio wasn’t really a thing yet and we all still had side-jobs, mine being a freelance songwriter during the day and stocking groceries for Walmart at night, Changbin was mostly working his ass off at a gym near our old shared apartment which was, if I remember correctly, situated in West Bergen at the time.

He was spending so much time in there that the owner of the place decided to hire him, offering an opportunity to receive professional bodybuilding coaching necessary to become a personal trainer. A temporary solution which was more than welcomed at a time when we needed to save up every dollar of our poor monthly salaries.

  
Jisung joined us a few months later and that's when we started stepping our game up fast. A few months of consistent work and a couple of bold decisions here and there slowly pawed our way towards the desired goal. Our dream was collective. A shared artistic love for music; the more we cultivated it, the better we could feel like it's starting to shape us. Personal projects turned into co-projects and soon enough, we started to share music with people who became to support us. Only now I wonder what sort of power made me leave Australia and settle in NY unbeknownst the hardships that I was bound to go through after leaving the comfort of my childhood home. The only reason I was able to overcome some crucial turning points during my career development was entirely thanks to those two. _What a time to be all nostalgic and shit_ , I though as I watched Hyunjin's hands tie his shawl around Changbin's neck snugly.  
  
“Don't just stand there, dear Christopher! Can't you see my baby deer Felix is freezing his ass of too?” The almost accusatory tone of his voice put a stop to my thoughts immediately. I saw Felix shooting a reproving glance at him. How un-Felix-like.

Not sure what was expected of me, I started to take my warm sweater off and was about to offer it to Felix instead. Hyunjin, annoyance settling on his face, just tossed his hand in the air in an exaggerated manner, startling some passersby in the process.  
  
“Jesus, who told you to strip that off? I'm gonna call a cab. Would you be so kind and give that boy a long warm hug until the cabs here? Thanks.”

Felix didn't even have time to protest because I was already wrapping my arms from behind him and pushing his figure towards my body tightly. My head fitted in between the crease of his neck perfectly, puffs of hot breath sending a wave of heat across the exposed skin above his collarbones. His body went stiff for a second but he eventually relaxed into my embrace and buried himself into the soft fabric of my hoodie.

It took exactly one thorough draw of breath before the smell of his body invaded my nostrils and made me nuzzle my nose deeper into the crease in an unconscious attempt to inhale more of it. More of him.

I don’t know if the reason that made him shiver under my touch was from the cold wind against his skin, or if it had something to do with the way I held him close to me. I was hoping for the latter.  
  
“Feeling better?” I asked, as I sneaked my hands lower and around his waist until I let them settle just above the waistband of his jeans, tugging at it slightly.  
  
“Yeah. S'nice. Your warmth,” and then he rested his hands on top of mine and squeezed, waiting for the warmth from my limbs to envelop his as well.  
  
 _Sweet,_ I wanted to whisper against the shell of his ear, but instead I took his freezing hands into mine and started caressing them gently. I could hear him hum with contentment, his chest vibrating against mine just barely.

I don’t know why he did that but suddenly, I could feel his head turn ever so slightly towards mine, his lips almost brushing against my nose, eyes finding their way to meet my gaze, with his cheeks flushed red, probably from the wind grazing against them relentlessly.  
  
“Your lips,” he pointed at them with the mere shift of his eyes that were now studying the wrinkly dryness covering my cold sensitive lips, leaving tiny cracks and wounds on it as I stubbornly tried to bite the dead skin off of them to no avail, “they're chapped. You shouldn’t bite or lick them. It will only make it worse.”

And then he brought one of his fingers to his own lips, rubbed it against them a few times so as gather some of their moistness on the tip of his forefinger. Convinced it was now sufficiently coated with the sticky substance, probably of a balm or some kind of a thick protective ointment, he wasted no time smearing it across my lips ever so carefully, paying attention to every little cut marring its flesh.

Would it be too much to flutter my eyes shut and kiss him silly?

We were both equally startled when Changbin who sneaked up on our backs, spoke to us from behind without much of a warning.  
  
“Hyunjin says the cab is waiting for us in front of the entrance gate.”  
  
  
The staggering coldness of this one October afternoon happened to chase us back to the hotel but made me feel like it also let me delve a little bit deeper into something that was still very much difficult for me to open up about. Even to myself alone.

After a short discussion at the hotel, it was somehow decided that the four of us were going to visit a bar together, later that evening. No doubt the night was still young, so nobody was mad when I announced that I was about to take a nap before dragging myself near something that even vaguely resembled a dance floor.  
  
  
  
  
  
  


I believe it was around eight when I woke up to a sound of something smashing to the floor next to my bed. I immediately panicked that I must have accidentally pushed my phone off of it with a stray limb but when I opened my eyes to search for the cause I saw Changbin standing beside my bed, with his bag full of toiletries helplessly cast aside on the floor in front of him.  
  
“Oops. My fault,” he clasped his hands together in a faked attempt to showcase an expression of remorse on his face, then bent down to retrieve the bag that he happened to drop to the floor right next to my sleeping figure purely 'by accident'. “Now that you're up, how about you get ready for the night?”

Right, the bar. We agreed on meeting there around nine. It was a part of the hotel, so not like it mattered whether I woke up an hour earlier or happened to oversleep and jumped out of bed just five minutes before nine. Now that I was up though, I played with the idea of taking a shower or at least changing the clothes from the afternoon for a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt that wasn’t drenched in sweat.

When I looked over at Changbin, I saw him deeply immersed in some kind of an activity. I was not going to take a guess before I at least lifted my back off the bed, looking towards Changbin with curious eyes, my vision still kind of blurred from the sleep.  
  
“What are you so invested in?” I asked, sounding way too gingerly.

Changbin didn’t even bother tossing a glance at me, he just continued on doing whatever he was doing to begin with.

“Can't decide on what to wear,” he stated rather dryly.  
  
“Oh. That so?” Was it such an extravagant event that it was necessary to put such deep thought into what one was going to wear? I highly doubted that. “Just wear whatever.”

After the comment, I thought that he decided to just abandon the conversation altogether, paying attention to the choice of his clothes entirely. But he did reply when it seemed like he was done contemplating between the three tees that were being splayed on a conference table in front of him. All black, just to make it a little bit more confusing for no reason.  
  
“You should wear something other than a stinky hoodie too. But like, no pressure. Do whatever,” he said, matter-of-factly, but I didn’t miss the hint of pretense that he was trying to cover up by way of that nonchalant stare of his.  
  
“I will. Thanks,” I spat at him. “Not like I have the need to impress someone tonight anyways.” I concluded a little too sullenly for it to sound like anything but a convincing statement.  
  
“Aye? You don’t sound so sure about that,” I just wished he would stop playing cat and mouse around so much every time the topic slid into something personal like my love life. It was clearly nonexistent in my case. I thought Changbin should've known better since he's probably the closest person that I ever have been with. As a friend, I mean. I would never take it upon myself to tame this brat in a romantic relationship if he happened to be in one. Good luck to his future partner because I seriously couldn’t imagine him being all lovey-dovey with someone.

That being said, he was putting a suspicious amount of effort into his outfit tonight. Could it be that? No.

I waved whatever thoughts that were bugging my mind away. What's wrong with him wanting to look good tonight? Not my business.

I stood up and inspected myself in the mirror. I definitely could've used a quick shower. Outfit would come next.

Felix called that they were heading to the bar first. I used the extra time to blow my hair dry, wondering if I should also put some effort into taming my curly hair somehow, but left it as it was in the end. Changbin insisted that I should put some light make up on, saying that applying a bit of an eyeliner wasn’t going to kill me.  
  
“Fine, but first round is on you,” I said as I looked through my bag in order to fish out my eye pencil sharpener.

The bar itself was in the basement of our hotel. It also featured a spacey dance floor and a bar isle centered in the middle of the room. It was quite dark inside, which somehow added to the atmosphere of a cozy suburban night club, most of the light coming from the isle centerpiece itself. We were headed towards it, quickly recognizing two familiar figures occupying bar stools with drinks, possibly some kind of fruity cocktails, being nursed in their hands for starters. I observed its contents from a distance. Was that a-  
  
"A daiquiri?" I finally said out loud, my voice effectively startling both of them, oblivious to the fact that we were now standing behind their backs for at least a while.

"Where have you two been? You're late. I already downed two martini's. Now you have to catch up," Hyunjin whined, sizing the both of us with what had to be an annoyed look.

If Hwang Hyunjin was a decent man, things could have been a little less obvious. But his stare was just outright bold, eyes lingering on the bulge of Changbin's fitting pants hugging his lower region tightly and somehow I was not to believe that he could blame it purely on the two empty glasses of martini to his left. Not when he bit down on his lip like that, obviously liking what he just discovered down there. My hand flew to my crotch at that sort of automatically, until I realized that luckily, it was being covered by the length of my tee. 

We slid behind the bar, me taking place next to Felix, while Changbin took a free spot on Hyunjin's left, carefully pushing the empty glasses of martini away.  
  
"Please, give us all a round of gin tonic," said Hyunjin, speaking to an apathetic looking bartender loafing about behind the counter quietly, "and make it a double," Felix sort of frowned at that, pushing his untouched drink closer to him, eyes shooting a remorseless glance at Hyunjin occupying a seat just next to him. Hyunjin actually must have possessed a power of reading minds or what, because he immediately rushed in with a very random explanation, able to soothe my internal perplexity.  
  
"Felix hates the taste of it. Unfortunately for him, tonight he has to drink whatever I order for him," and he stuck out his tongue playfully at Felix's unimpressed hiss.

"Why is that so?" Changbin asked, genuinely curious. Hyunjin smiled at that slyly, unable to mask a look of triumph on his face.  
  
"Let's just say that he lost a bet to me," now that got me interested as well.  
  
"What bet?" I inquired, not missing the way Felix's form shrunk in his seat skittishly. He then turned his face away from me, to probably serve Hyunjin a warning stare, but I couldn't tell from where I was sitting.  
  
"Should I tell him, Felix?" He peered at me from over Felix's shoulder suggestively.   
  
"No! Hyunjin, I swear to god!"   
  
"Tell him what?" Changbin interrupted.  
  
"Nothing!" He said a little angrily. I watched their banter in amusement, but seeing how Felix was growing more and more uncomfortable, practically being at Hyunjin's mercy, I started to feel bad for him and decided I wouldn't press on it any further.  
  
"I won't tell. But you have to drink, remember?" He said, pointing at Felix's cocktail glass with a triumphant smile on his lips. He looked at his drink distastefully, but probably figuring out that Hyunjin's mouth just wouldn't stay shut if he decides to rebel, he did take a small sip out of it, swallowing hard, with disgust even. How in the world was he going to survive the shots?

Felix did struggle quite a lot. I stayed a couple of rounds behind with him, not really wanting to get trashed and I could see that Felix appreciated my little sacrifice as well. Meanwhile, Changbin and Hyunjin were for sure on their way to get shitfaced.

We stopped counting their rounds quite some time ago and were now sending coded messages over the counter, giving the bartender a discreet hint to stop pouring any more drinks their way, telling him to swap the alcohol for water instead. In any case, they didn't seem to notice, an indicator as to how gone they were.

At some point, our conversation with Felix unsurprisingly started revolving around dog stuff and that's when I remembered that I forgot to text Seungmin, the owner of the dog hotel, to ask how Brodie was doing. I even forgot to bring my phone with me, excusing myself promptly in order to send Seungmin a panicky late night text.

I wasn't exactly in a rush when, after storming into my room, I found out that Seungmin, the reliable man he was, managed to send me a very cute message saying that Brodie was doing great, making friends with other dogs at the hotel and also apparently falling in love with one of the hotels newest employees.

I thought I haven't been in my room for more than ten minutes, so I was kind of surprised when I didn't see all of the guys at the spot where I initially left them at. Only Felix sat there, looking like he was about to zone out.

He looked relieved when I reappeared in front of the bar, claiming a chair beside him. Upon asking where the rest of our group went, he merely managed to point towards the farthermost corner of the otherwise scarcely occupied dance floor.

My jaw almost dropped to the floor at the sight. There they were, clearly going at each other, hips joined together in a slow grind that matched the seductive beat of a song that was currently filling the dimly lit interior of the room.

I knew I probably shouldn't have stared, but there was something really satisfying about the way Hyunjin threw his head back in bliss when Changbin slotted his thigh between Hyunjin's legs, only for him to further tease his painfully looking hard-on on it shamelessly. I've never had someone eyeing me down with such a hungry stare which screamed pure lust that clearly asked for nothing but to fuck.

I watched as Changbin's hands gripped Hyunjin's sides with raw force, pressing his body impossibly closer to his. Down found their way to Hyunjin's round ass, giving it a dauntingly harsh squeeze. I could only imagine how hotly he must've moaned right into Changbin's ear, judging by the arousal apparent in his otherwise unflappable features and the way his hand flew to Hyunjin's hair, yanking at it in a very insensitive way. _Must have felt so fucking good. Changbin is going to fuck him so so hard,_ I caught myself thinking, wetting my lips with the tip of my tongue absent-mindedly.

My mind almost went blank when I saw Hyunjin palming at the tenting bulge in Changbin's pants, imagining just how nicely his fingers are going to feel wrapped around his entire length, possibly jacking Changbin off till he's cumming all over the other boys skillful hand. I wasn't even surprised when the two of them started rushing towards the exit, probably to fuck. Which was probably for the best. Their drunk, sex-starved minds must have been already riled up after all the teasing that had been going on for god knows how long now. Another minute and I would've been on my knees, begging to join them. 

I was quite grateful that Felix seemed unfazed with my slightly voyeuristic tendencies. He suddenly hopped down from his chair, grabbing onto my arm in the process.   
  
"Let's dance Chris!" he exclaimed with a newfound vigor. I tried to warn him that I really was not much of a dancer to begin with but Felix was adamant. He wasn't going to take my half-assed excuse as a no, dragging me past the bar right onto the dance floor. Persuading him otherwise was helpless and so eventually, I gave in and started to bob my head in time with the beat. Felix got lost in the music quickly, swaying his body to the song with movements of his hands and torso that matched the melody perfectly. I could see he was having fun, his uplifting mood being quite contagious. Soon enough, I found myself copying his flow and matching his dance moves as best as I could manage.  
  
"See, it's not about being bad at dancing. It's about letting go of your worries!" He spoke to me loudly. The next song that started to play through the speakers, almost ironically, happened to add a hilarious amount of value to his randomly uttered statement. 'It might seem crazy what I'm about to say, sunshine she's here you can take a break,' he screamed in joy as this song was probably one of his all time favorites. And he definitely did not intend to hold himself back while it was being played, chanting the lyrics like some sort of a mantra.  
  
"Because I'm happy, clap along if you feel like a room without a roof! Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth!" I found myself holding his hands as we jumped around and sang, or rather screamed together like complete fools. I don't think I've ever seen Felix happier before. And it filled my heart with so much affection for the boy that I almost felt my eyes watering at the realization. _Dear Felix, thanks to you, I 'm beginning to have an idea of what happiness really is to me,_ 'Clap along if you know what happiness is to you.'

We danced till our lungs screamed for air, legs starting to get wobbly with every other bounce to the floor. I couldn't remember a single time enjoying dancing this much. A feeling of pleasant lassitude washed over me and suddenly, all I could think about was how badly I wanted to dive into the jacuzzi waiting for me in our room, the idea of my exhausted body being massaged with whirlpools of hot water sending my mind into a momentary state of euphoria. I couldn't see any harm in proposing this very idea to Felix as well, inviting him to join me for a relaxing bath. And as I thought, he agreed without much hesitation, sounding as cheerful as ever. 

Once being on the 12th floor, he did hesitate in front of the entrance to my room a bit. 

"Hyunjin has our key card. And my phone is in the other room too," he recalled in a wistful tone.  
  
"Then be my guest Felix," I said in a heartbeat, "Something tells me that it's probably for the best that you don't have the key after all. I have a feeling that Changbin wasn't in such a hurry escorting Hyunjin out of the club, only to wish him a good nights sleep and tuck him into bed without sucking his dick first." The lack of expression on his face told me that Felix either failed to realize that, or was completely unbothered by the idea of walking on the two of them, fucking.  
  
"Oh, I guess you're right," he said, totally unfazed while following my steps inside the spacey room. He excused himself to the bathroom first and I used the time to saunter in front of the bath tub, operating with the abundance of its seemingly identical buttons with a fair degree of uncertainty. A few unsuccessful attempts later, I seemed to be on the right way to crack its code and before long, I watched with pride as the bath tub started to fill with steamy hot water to the brim.

I started to undress myself, pausing to contemplate if it would be okay to take off my boxers as well, but deciding to leave them on. I felt a wave of pleasure washing over me as soon as I dipped my leg into the water. It took a minute for my sore muscles to relax, my whole body now being submerged in the heat, loosening up slowly.

I heard the opening and closing of the door, my eyes staying shut, enjoying the warmness engulfing me wholly.  
  
"How does it feel?" Felix asked in a low voice, causing my eyes to flutter open. He stood at the edge of the pool, with only his briefs on and a small towel hanging off of his shoulder. I haven't seen him like this yet, bare, with only a single peace of clothing preventing me from appreciating every single curve and delicate feature of his exposed frame. Quite unsure which side of the bath tub he should occupy, he seemed like he was contemplating his choices carefully.  
  
"There's only one way you can find out," I teased, pointing at a spot right across to me. He took the cue and descended into the water slowly, immediately sighing with contentment.

"I could stay like this for hours," he smiled serenely, then closed his eyes to fully indulge in the sensation caused by continuous flow of bubbly water hitting his body from every direction.

When I first happened to catch an indistinct sound coming from somewhere behind my back, I thought I fell asleep and was now having a dream. Not really paying much attention to it, I continued to doze off. Then it happened for the second time, but since I still wasn't sure if that wasn't being just my imagination playing tricks on me, I decided to stay unbothered. The next time it happened though, the sound entered my ear so sharply, it immediately made my stomach turn into knots. I opened my eyes to a similarly shocked Felix, his gaze flicking between my own, filled with trepidation, and the glass panel that separated my apartment from Felix's.

We happened to exchange a couple of bewildered stares before it hit us again. It was Hyunjin's breathy moan that penetrated the heavy silence again. Louder, longer and this time, unmistakable, followed by a string of unintelligible sounds, bound to be swear words or suppressed groans, or maybe both. 

By now I should have been on my way out of the bath tub, exiting the balcony and burying myself deep into the safety of my bed, throwing a pillow over my head to effectively block out any audible sounds of the two of them going at each other only a couple steps away from where I was currently remaining frozen in place. Instead, I braced myself for an incoming noise.

I expected another string of moans, maybe a cute little needy whine, just to alleviate the otherwise tense situation that presented itself to us quite without a warning, but no. Of course they had to start fucking, the echo of skin slapping skin quickly becoming unbearable, impossible to escape. Without fail, I felt my confined cock stir as another fucked-out moan penetrated the air around us. Hyunjin had already started muttering nonsense, clearly taking Changbin's cock hard.

The bubbles in the tub suddenly stopped whirling around and whatever additional sounds were the jets blocking, the invisible barrier that provided the last tiny bit of simulated security was now gone. Voices grew rather distinct and in-between the wet sounds of Changbin's balls hitting Hyunjin's ass with every single thrust of his steady rhythm, Felix and I happened to overhear a conversation, that would made my mind shatter into pieces.   
  
„H-hyunjin, baby, I'm so fucking close.“  
„Please, I want you to cum on my face, pl-„ Hyunjin pleaded, quite shamelessly.  
  
The walls around my throat tightened and I found myself fighting the need to clear it, my eyes wandering places when suddenly, I was looking right at Felix. He hasn't uttered a single word since this situation got out of hand, but even a careful inspection of his face didn't reveal much about his current state of mind.

I tensed up. His lower lip was trembling and something in the way he stared right back at me, with unwavering eyes, told me that he might be just as affected by this as I was.

Another high-pitched cry broke its way out of Hyunjin's throat.

Felix parted his mouth slightly, so as to speak, but out came a small groan instead. In an instant, he moved towards me in a single long stride.

„I need to kiss you Chris,“ and before I could say anything, he climbed into my lap, straddling me, brushing his own hard cock against mine and with a broken sob, he crashed our lips together in an eager, fast-paced kiss.

Suddenly, everything around me molded into a blur. All I could feel was Felix's tongue in my mouth, wet, hot, pressing against my own in a fervent dance. And all I could think about was how his ass, lying flush against my groin, humped against my painfully hard shaft in slow, teasing circles.

I buried my hands into his wet hair, tugging at it gently and just that small amount of pressure made him moan into my mouth sweetly. I remembered just how much Felix loves to be caressed, and that made me wonder how he wants to be handled in bed and if he maybe likes being touched the same way he fights for dominance while kissing me.

I tightened the grip around his locks a bit, wanting to hear more of him, and the barely audible, breathy 'fuck' that escaped his mouth gave me an idea of just how much pressure might be enough for Felix to drive him insane.

He broke the kiss after that and tilted his head against my ear. Then, in a low, whispery voice that almost felt too foreign to be his, he voiced out longingly.

„Take me to your bed Christopher.“

I can't say I remember how exactly we got to the point where I let Felix take off my boxers and start working his way down on me, but the wet sounds of his mouth taking my cock so well caused arousal pool in the pit of my stomach way too early on, eyes rolling in the back of my head as I felt his lips tighten around my length, him gagging slightly when the tip of my cock threatened to hit the back of his throat in search for more heat.

I could tell that he knew I was close, the heaving of my chest starting to get erratic, hips stuttering frantically, chasing the release. He knew I was close but didn't take his mouth off of my cock for a second, but in fact sped up his tempo even more, flattening his tongue against my shaft so as to not miss a drop of cum which shot straight down his throat in thick long streaks.

„Come sit on my face,“ I ordered, urging him to position his thighs on either side of my head, forcing his ass down on my face with a tight grip around his hip bones. He moaned beautifully when my tongue found his opening and licked around his hole eagerly, then pushed its way past the tight ring of muscle with an obscenely wet sound.

He fucked down on it messily, moaning my name while balancing himself on his trembling thighs, closing them around my head shakily.

I was so lost in the idea of pleasuring him that when he wiggled his way out of my grip and forced his cock past my lips, I let him release his cum into the wet heat of my mouth. All while he was coming down from his orgasm with a prolonged stuttering sob.

We haven´t exchanged any words after that. All I wanted to do was to hold him close and bury my nose into his hair, embracing his body from behind, just like lovers do. I could feel my heart thrumming against his back loudly and fell asleep as soon as he took my hands in his and intertwined them.

In the morning, I realized that Felix was no longer pressed warmly into my body. Instead, and to my biggest surprise, I woke up to a soundly sleeping figure that was lying flat on the other side of the bed. Rubbing my eyes twice with the knuckles of my forefingers, I came to realize that I was now looking at Changbin.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bang Chan decides to adopt a dog from a local shelter and soon seeks help in a form of a dog-sitter. He happens to be introduced to a young and impossibly handsome dog trainer, Lee Felix and quickly starts to realize that he is very much attracted to him. Not wanting to scare him away, building up their friendship through hilarious encounters, he wonders what would happen if his secret was revealed to the seemingly oblivious friend that he's very much, in love with.
> 
> Alternatively, Felix waltzes into Chris's life and has no mercy while messing with the pathetic gay side of his poor, sex-starved life.
> 
> This summary needs to be rewritten, I swear to dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, but like, hear me out.  
> I originally planned for this to be a three part series. Though, THOUGH, I realized the last chapter would have been excessively long (like 20k or smth) so I decided to break it in two.  
> Also, I just sort of came up with another mini twist to the fic and thought that it would be a shame not to include it in the story, so basically that' s how fourth chapter was born. I hope you don't mind.
> 
> This is my longest piece of writing that I've ever worked on - dang, not even my thesis tops this - but even though I enjoy writing this, it's far from perfect, has a lot of mistakes in it, is boring at times, you name it.
> 
> I just want to let you know that I really appreciate every single one of you who decided to give this a try.
> 
> Third chapter is out. Here goes nothing-

First of all, let me make a point. Getting stupidly aroused upon seeing your best bro and his insanely attractive hook-up go at each other just sort of happens. Don't try to convince me otherwise. Nothing out of place there. Well, sort of...But like, see the point?

Yeah. So. Second of all, getting stupidly aroused part two, right in front of your long-term crush after you happen to overhear said friends fucking in a jacuzzi not five feet apart from you doesn't present itself as often, granted, but can sort of happen too. I am a living example of this possibility.

Someone once said: „The possibility of all those possibilities being possible is just another possibility that can possibly happen – Mark Lee, 2019.“

Thanks a lot for coming to my ted talk. Now I gotta go find a hole and bury my stupid ass in it, because there's no way I could still walk the earth peacefully, knowing, that I just had a hot sex session with my crush because our dicks decided to collectively betray us, and now we have to live with that for the rest of our lives.

Fun fact, I probably wouldn't want it any other way if you asked me. I mean, don't. Don't ask me. I would most likely start panicking and probably get a hard on or end up in an equally ridiculous scenario instead. Because I guess that's just the new me. Popping hard on's on and off, like I'm not twenty fucking six already but still can't control my libido for shit.

I flipped onto my stomach as quietly as I could and reached towards the nightstand to grab my phone. There were quite a few unread messages from various people, but among those, there was a particular one which made my stomach shrink in size of a pea.

It read, „We need to talk. See you after the conference.“

That was it. This is how I die. Out of shame and embarrassment. And stress perhaps. Because there was no such thing as being able to keep my shit together and stay sane while discussing the peculiarities of yesterday's night. It was so much easier to simply remain a coward as opposed to actually take responsibility and for once, just once, gather some courage and face the reality, without the need to run from it. God, was I asking for too much?

Felix having to participate in the dog trainer's conference at least partially explained the reason why I oddly woke up in bed with Changbin and not Felix instead. They must have switched places sometime during the night. How exactly it happened though, would remain a mystery.

I heard Changbin stir in his sleep. I kind of wished that he would stay asleep for the next twenty-four hours so that I wouldn't have to confront him.

On the other hand, it wasn't like he could've found out about me eavesdropping on him and Hyunjin, right? And the possibility of him having any reason to believe that Felix and I were having sex because of him and Hyunjin having sksk-

Ugh. Not gonna lie, things were pretty messed up. And messed up in my protocol equals better to be avoided.

Okay, Changbin was definitely waking up. Shit, shit. What do I do? Do I pretend that I'm still asleep? Won't do, my acting is crap. I'll just act normally. Woah, genius, what a sophisticated plan.

I slapped myself internally, then turned on the side to face Changbin, who was now trying to adjust his vision to the daylight, one eye still half-way shut, his face scrunched up into a hilarious grimace. _This guy is harmless, can't do shit to me,_ I psyched myself up.

„You up Chan?“ He asked, eyes blinking rapidly to even out the blurriness.  
 _Yes, Changbin, I am very much awake and panicking_ , „Uh-huh. Morning, sleepyhead,“ I tried to shake the nervousness away with an awkward attempt at a joke. Changbin decided to answer with a heavily skeptical look.

„Aren't you curious why Felix isn't here?“ The question rang through my ears as if Changbin's words have smacked me right in the face through a punch.

„Should I be?“ I tried to show his question away, pretending I actually didn't care all that much.

„You have quite an audacity for a guy that has dried cum stains all over his chin,“ I frowned at that, diverting my gaze away from him, sighing in defeat.

„Like you're one to talk,“ I said through gritted teeth, standing up to fish out a fresh pair of sweats from my backpack.

„Oh please, don't act like you weren't dying to fuck Felix for months,“ He said with an annoyingly dramatic sigh.

„A-ha you fucking hypocrite. Talking like your dick wasn't stuck up in Hyunjin's ass literally hours ago. And just for your information, we didn't fuck,“ That last thing I shared might have been unnecessary, but I guess I said it to prove a point. Meaning that whatever he thought he might use against me could backfire at him just as badly.

„What does that even have to do with it?“ He said, raising his voice at me. I was fuming at this point.

„Pretty much everything?!“

„More like pretty damn nothing!“ He shot back, glaring. I held myself back from punching the wall behind me in frustration. Instead, I took a deep breath, shutting my eyes closed.

„I can't believe that Felix let such a fucking prick rub his dick instead of kicking you in the balls. Cause you would have totally deserved it,“ Most of the time, I didn't mind Changbin being so straightforward with people. Honesty is the best policy, right? But there was no going around the fact that I, indeed, wanted to strangle him right now.

He sighed. I sighed. We shared a look, still wanting to low-key kill each other. I saw the motion of clenching and unclenching of his jaw, twisting his lips into something that vaguely resembled a smile. And I knew we were good. For Christ's sake, we were friends after all.

„So, like, are you a thing now?“ I tried hard not to produce any more desperate sounds threatening to leave my throat, plopping on the bed instead and flinging an elbow over my face.

„Guess I'm gonna find out soon,“ I said, huffing and puffing.

„Chan,“ he scrambled closer from under the sheets, „Felix likes you. Like a lot.“

„As a friend,“ I tried to stress out the word 'friend', but Changbin just waved that off like some fake news.

„Remember the bet? The one Felix refused to talk about? Yesterday, at the bar,“ I squinted at him from under the elbow.

„What about that?“ I inquired, him now having my full attention.

„Wanna know what was that all about?“ Unsure how to respond, I simply answered with a nod.

„Hyunjin proposed to him that whoever's gonna get asked out on a date first wins the bet, meaning that the loser has to be punished somehow. Hyunjin won, and Felix, in turn, had to get drunk for losing. But you haven't heard it from me. Just in case,“ I scanned his entire face in shock. Was he being serious?

„For real?“

„I'm not making this up. You can ask Hyunjin if you want, but it's exactly what he has told me himself,“ It's not that I didn't believe him or something, I just had a hard time figuring out what exactly should I do with this piece of information, my mind being busy drifting in between the state of feeling profoundly bewildered and, paradoxically, on the verge of me bursting out laughing like a madman.

So Hyunjin came up with _that_ kind of a bet. And won. Which means that he was asked on a date. Wait. WHICH MEANS HE WAS ASKED OUT ON A DATE.

The sudden realization hit me like a slap in the face and Changbin for sure couldn't miss the way my jaw almost dropped to the ground. I wanted to shower him with questions but he saw through it and managed to open his mouth first.

„Before you say anything. The answer is yes. _I_ did. So stop gaping at me with that filthy mouth of yours and go process that while scrubbing that nasty goo off of your face, pronto.“

I couldn't contain the smile that started to form on my lips. I strutted towards the bathroom in a weirdly uplifted mood.

Sometime around noon, I received a very urgent text from Hyunjin, not sure who gave him my number, that basically said he's ditching the rest of the conference.

It said, „I need to speak to you right now. Meet me at the café downstairs in about fifteen minutes. Don't tell Felix about this.“

I got up and immediately left for the café.

Hyunjin showed up a couple minutes later, dark circles under his eyes somewhat covered with a concealer, probably from the lack of sleep, the remains of yesterday's night. He took a seat in right in front of me, pushing his hair back in an attempt to gather some of the loose strands and secure them in a tightly tied ponytail.

„Hi,“ He greeted me with a smile as soon as he was done fumbling with his hair.

„Hi,“ I greeted back, my voice coming out a little bit strained.

„Any idea why I brought you here?“ He asked, now studying my face intently.

„Honestly, I was hoping that you'd do the explaining,“ Judging from the way he was eyeing me, I knew he was going to cut right to the chase, so I waited for him to gather his thoughts, staring right back at him.

„Let me ask you a question Chris,“ The tone of his voice suddenly became serious, his eyes darkening considerably, „Just how much are you willing to sacrifice to be with the person you love?“

Profound questions are sometimes asked in a way that needs to be interpreted not so much in terms of your own personal believes, but rather perceived as a means to thoroughly scrutinize certain parts within yourself with a carefully measured amount of incredulity.

Now, the act of actually discovering the answers to those questions is of secondary importance. Thinking that we might find all the answers if we just look deep enough is, in itself, misleading.

I might want to believe that what Hyunjin's question really wanted to convey was not something to be answered solely through words, but was meant to be understood, in fact, in terms of a proposal.

I spread my palms onto the surface of the table that separated us, pressing my weight into them as I bent over it to bring myself closer to him. He didn't shy away, not even when I brought my lips to his ear, saying words that would, in the many months to follow, blossom into something that he and I would hold onto and devotedly live by.

And I can't explain how, but suddenly, he knew that I knew, that I saw through it, through him and his facade that could be very likely misunderstood for something else entirely. For to prove that I haven't misread the signs, he slowly tilted his head to the side and kissed me with such tenderness, that it made me feel like, bit by bit, all my fears which sat deep at the bottom of my heart were simply going to melt away. I smiled through the entirety of that kiss, because at that very moment, no statement in the world could have completed me more than the amount of reassurance sealed away in Hyunjin's lips.

When we finally pulled apart, my lips still tingling from the kiss that we just shared, I casually shifted towards a different topic, „So, I heard the news about your date.“ Hyunjin smiled at that cheekily.

„About time he made a move. Unlike someone,“ and he sized me up a snicker.

„I'm getting to that,“ I objected, folding my arms over my chest in self-defense.

„I sure hope you do. Besides, after what I just heard,“ and he gestured towards his ear so as to remind himself of my words, „you seem to understand very well why is it so important. To all of us.“

„So, wait. Do I ask you all out at once on an group date, or like what?“ Still don't know if it was my question that made him chuckle, or perhaps the genuinely concerned expression which was pasted all over my face.

„No, silly! Just Felix. The rest is whatever for now. We can figure that out later,“ I visibly relaxed at that, my worries slowly dissipating into thin air. He couldn't quite contain the laughter upon seeing how distressed I was. That is, until he heard his phone buzz somewhere from inside his travel bag.

He hurriedly took it out, his whole face lightening up as he recognized Felix's number on the screen, „Speaking of the devil...“

Skimming through the message quickly, he then paused to glance at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

„It's Felix. He says he needs to fly back to New York.“

„When?“ I asked, tilting my head to the side questioningly, waiting for further explanation.

„Immediately,“ He retorted, shaking his head slightly, with a gasp rolling off of his tongue and out from his parted mouth.

I found myself wondering what exactly might have been the reason behind Felix's unexpected departure. Thinking about it suddenly made me miss him very much, debating eyes being focused on a random spot in the air, contemplating.

What pulled me out my trance, was the delicate touch of Hyunjin's fingers, tickling the skin of my palm being spread out on the table idly.

„You should hurry up if you want to catch that flight,“ I pulled myself together rather quickly, nodding with my lips pursed, brows furrowed with determination.

Without wasting any more time, I snatched my few belongings from the table and ran out from the café, rushing past the reception towards the entrance door with a single thought in mind, 'I need to catch that flight.'

I managed to hail a taxi in record time. The car was still in motion when I yanked the door open and threw myself onto the back seat like a weighty sack of potatoes, owning a harsh stare from the taxi driver. I paid that no mind and basically yelled at him the directions.

„To the airport!“ I half-screamed, which he simply scoffed at, catching a hold of the steering wheel and navigating the car into the traffic without exchanging any more casualties.

After maintaining a persistent amount of pressure aimed at the driver and thirty long minutes later, I almost left the car without paying for the ride. I got yelled at, which was probably more than well-deserved in this case, but I forgot about it as soon as I started sprinting towards the nearest terminal in sight. Maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't manage to make it on time, but that didn't stop me from keeping my hopes up as I tried to make out where the ticket counter was.

Being sure that I must be close, I dashed through the next door in haste, nearly smashing into an elderly lady who suddenly emerged from behind the corner. I was one careless maneuver away from sending the poor grandma to the ground.

„I'm terribly sorry,“ I blurted out after her, already on my way elsewhere.

The ticket counters came into view only moments later, massive amounts of people waiting in the line and for a second, I thought about giving up, because there was simply no chance I could make it on time.

But then, as if my prayers had been answered, I spotted him among the crowd and immediately started to make my way towards him. People in the line surely weren't in the mood to spare me without looking daggers at me, but I continued to push through them, not minding their hateful glances.

Felix must have noticed the commotion behind him, tilting his head to the side in search for the cause of the sudden uproar. That's when I came into his view, currently wrestling with the security tape that got in the way as I tried to crawl under it.

„Chris?“ He said with a gasp, watching the scene unfold in front of him in disbelief.

„Hey,“ I began, straightening myself up to meet his gaze, „Happy to see me?“ I asked, producing a nervous laugh.

„More like, shocked? What on earth are you doing here? How did you even-„ I lifted my hand and placed it on his shoulder, giving it a soothing squeeze.

„I came as soon as I found out. Was it,“ I stuttered, turning my eyes away from him, „Was it a bad idea?“ Up till now, amidst the chaos that sprang up during my conversation with Hyunjin, I failed to consider a possibility in which Felix, maybe, wanted to leave Boston alone. Blood started rushing to my head in a way that made me feel dizzy. And suddenly, for some reason, I felt very, very stupid. _What was I thinking? Chasing him all the way to the airport like a lunatic?_

„Forget it. I need a hug,“ I heard him say before he pulled me into a tight embrace, nuzzling his head against mine, „I'm glad you're here. I'm so, so glad.“

I buried one of my hands in his hair, sneaking in a small welcoming peck on his temple. His body odor gave away a mixture of his own sweat, blended with the faded scent of his cologne, and a tiny whiff of soapy water smell that clung to his body every time he decided to wear one of his freshly washed sweaters.

Coming here wasn't honestly such a silly idea after all. And not that I stopped feeling like a fool altogether. I was, without doubt, a lot more foolish than a person in his mid-twenties ought to be, I assumed, but if that had not been the case, I wouldn't be holding Felix in my arms right now. I could no longer trick my heart into believing that I wasn't desperately trying to stay close to him. I could only lie to myself for so long. It was about time I finally let my feelings take over, without trying to keep them locked away.

„It's our turn. Let's buy us tickets home.“

„Let's go.“

On our way back, as I held onto Felix's hand, giving it an occasional comforting squeeze, we talked about what made him change his plans and rush back to New York so suddenly.

„It's my dog, Mackenzie,“ Upon mentioning Mackenzie, I immediately knew where this was going.

Felix produced a tired sigh, signs of fatigue on his face being as visible as ever under the fluorescent lights illuminating the space of the aircraft all too brightly. He continued to speak with his eyes closed, spreading his limbs in front of him as much as the tiny leg-space of our seats allowed.

„Her temperature dropped a couple hours ago and she might start delivering puppies any time now,“ Mackenzie's pregnancy was completely unforeseen and definitely not on his bucket list. Felix didn't have any plans for breeding her, but sometime during her last heat session, an accident took place.

One day, Felix's attention around her slipped and the next thing he knew, she was pregnant. And the father of her puppies turned out to be none other than his youngest addition to the pack, his now two year old Corgi, Yoda.

Felix had a hard time digesting the news, checking with his vet several times until he was ready to accept the reality of his two little dogs becoming parents soon. He always dreamed of a new fluffy addition to his little four-legged family, but his plan was to adopt a shelter dog.

So it was obviously a shock at first, knowing how tiring it was to be around puppies and take constant care after them. Puppies were a messy business and Felix would have welcomed it for sure, if his life wasn't being all around the place already. Luckily, he had many friends who were willing to help him, myself included, and after giving it a second thought, he came to a conclusion that it mostly wasn't all that bad after all.

It certainly was a small catastrophe, considering how busy his life had gotten lately, but here's the thing; everything in his little world revolved around dogs. He trained them, spent most of the day with them, took pride in providing them with the best care. He literally considered himself a part of the pack and there were times when I honestly thought he could understand them as much as he understood people, if not even more. If there was something like dog language, Felix got it mastered a long time ago.

„Oh my god? Isn't that a little too early for her to go into labour?“ That definitely wasn't one of my best attempts at comforting him and I cursed myself internally as soon as the words left my big, reckless mouth. I tried to make up for it by squeezing his thigh reassuringly. At that, I got side-eyed by him, his leg tensing up under the weight of my hand just a tiny little bit.

„It's definitely sooner that I expected, but it falls within the time frame for safe delivery. As long as no complications occur, she should be fine,“ He said, and I saw he was trying to keep himself composed, but I sensed he could break under the pressure any time now. I imagined this must've been nerve-wrecking even for the most experienced pet owners. Even more so for Felix, since this was about to be Mackenzie's first litter in her relatively short dog life. And Felix's first bundle of puppies as well. He had the right to be panicking and even if it wasn't showing all that much on his face, his constant fiddling with his phone was enough of a proof.

„Any news about Mackenzie?“

„Not really. Last time I checked, Seungmin told me that he made sure she's secluded in a quiet area and promised me he'll be keeping an eye on her,“ Right, she was at Clifton, in the same dog hotel as Brodie and Felix's other three dogs as well.

„That guy, Seungmin, he sure knows what he's doing. Mackenzie is in good hands. As long as he's there with her, she'll be fine,“ And I meant it. Clifton looked like a five start establishment for dogs, but it's not like that was all to it, not at all. I've been keeping in touch with Seungmin throughout the whole trip and he always made time to let me know how Brodie was doing. He even went as far as sending me photos of him, not forgetting to add cute captions under every single one of them. And there had been a few in that short span of time. God, my gallery was full of Brodie's pictures, top to bottom. And I am not trying to overexaggerate.

„Yeah, he's been through this many times before. He's had taken care of so many puppies in the past, he's become a pro in that area. Me, on the other hand, apart from freaking out, I don't think I could do much for Mackenzie, even if I was present,“ I seriously doubted that.

„Maybe, but I still think you'd do great. Besides, you have plenty experience with dogs yourself and I don't see why assisting Mackenzie during her labour should be a problem to you. Especially after saving Brodie from food poisoning that one time when I left him with a whole bar of chocolate, unattended. I honestly don't know what would I do without you being there, taking care of that situation in such a calm manner. I would've, I would've,“ I sighed, memories from the incident starting to take over my thoughts quickly. I don't think I've bought chocolate ever since. I felt too guilty for what happened the last time when I ended up being careless.

„Chris, I thought we were over this. Lesson learned, let's move on. Brodie is the healthiest and happiest pup in the world, all thanks to you. You should be proud of yourself. You gave him an amazing home and a second chance at that. Who knows what would have happened to him if you hadn't stumbled upon him in that shelter,“ Felix's arguments weren't entirely untrue, but he was missing something important. And I was about to make sure that he knows how I felt about this.

„I...That's...“ I started, trying to gather my thoughts, „You should give yourself some credit as well! You literally take care after him five times a week and you help me with his agility training too. He's been lucky to be around such an amazing person like you. And I have too,“ Well, that last bit was a bit of a stretch. Sort of happened. To slip out.

I gulped, suddenly feeling all too overwhelmed and my hands started sweating. _Shit, even my hands started sweating._ And yeah, I may or may not have just confessed my feelings to him in the vaguest possible way. Not one of my most thoroughly thought-through coming-outs, I have to admit.

„Chris, I-„ He hesitated, tightening his grip around our cojoined hands ever so slightly, „That's one way to put it, I think,“ Yeah, or one way to fuck it up.

„Uhm. Any idea how we're gonna get to Clifton?“ I changed the topic abruptly, trying to chase the awkward atmosphere away.

„Ah, right,“ he said, shifting in his seat somehow uncomfortably, „Seung-, Seungmin said there's gonna be someone waiting for us at the airport,“ he stammered out, suddenly on a mission to avoid my gaze altogether.

“Great. Wanna rest a bit while we still can?” I suggested, pulling out a blanket from underneath me and spreading it evenly over our legs.

“Yeah, sure,” He nodded apprehensively, bobbing his head cutely and without any sort of warning, he leaned on my shoulder and swung one of his legs over mine to make himself comfortable. Well, as much as one could, considering that the in-flight seats seemed to be designed primarily for gnomes, and anyone else, who was above the average gnome height had to either suck it up and fold himself into very unnatural positions in order to fit or cut his legs, because seriously, what are those.

On the bright side, there were only about twenty minutes left before we would be landing on John F. Kennedy's, and so I took a deep breath, shut my eyes closed and tried to ignore the numbness in my legs that was starting to get impossible to ignore.

Our ride was already waiting for us in front of the arrivals gate. It was hard not to notice him, honestly, because there he stood, a guy, supposedly younger than us, probably still a student, with a banner that had Felix's name written on it in bold black letters. Upon locking eyes with him, Felix just waved him a small hello and started walking towards him briskly. I was walking a few steps behind him, realizing that a presence of another person was likely unanticipated.

“Hi, you must be our ride,” Felix said, outstretching his hand toward the young man who was smiling at us in an unusually excited manner, “I'm Felix. Sorry for the trouble you had to go through. I appreciate your help a lot,” he continued in an apologetic voice, massaging the back of his neck nervously.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Lee. Don't worry about it, I'm not troubled by this at all,” he responded, sounding strangely enthusiastic about it. And I could swear that his smile got even wider as he kept talking, “By the way, I'm Yang Jeongin, one of the employees at Clifton's,” he locked eyes with Felix for a second more before switching his attention towards me, still smiling like he was having the time of his life. _Does he ever frown at people?_ I wondered, trying to muster a smile on my face in order to match his accommodating nature.

“And you must be?” He sized me up questioningly, but like, the smile was still very much present on his face. It was kind of unnerving, in a way.

“Oh, my bad,” I panicked, now that I realized the attention was fully directed at me, “Bang, Christopher Bang,” I managed to stick out my hand for a handshake, which he took gladly in his own _,_ “I sort of wasn't supposed to be here, but I would like to join you, if that's okay.”

“Mr. Bang?” He exclaimed in surprise, the way people do when realization flashes over them in an abrupt, almost groundbreaking manner.

_Wait. Have I seen this guy before? No, I must be wrong. But he sure does look familiar to me. I just can't remember where-_

“That Mr. Bang?” Felix and I exchanged a few quizzical glances between us, “Brodie's owner?” It took a few moments before it finally hit me. Of course I've seen him before. He's the guy from the photo!

“Do you guys know each other?” Felix suddenly intervened, waiting for one of us to clear out the growing confusion sitting heavy in the air around us.

“That's actually kind of a cute story,” I turned to him, eyes beaming with the newfound realization. Both watched me produce my phone from inside my pocket, peeking at the screen with curious eyes. When I opened my photo gallery, a seemingly endless stream of Brodie's pictures flooding said screen, I started scrolling through them until I found what I was looking for.

I clicked on one of the miniatures with a triumphant smile on my face, “Look, Seungmin sent this to me yesterday,” The photo showed a very cute picture of my dog being hugged by, as Seungmin mentioned in one of the messages, his new best human friend, who happened to be none other than this young man who came to pick us up.

“My boss did _what_?” Joengin suddenly freaked out, and for the first time since we met, his otherwise unshakable smile faltered instantaneously and morphed into an absolutely flabbergasted grimace. Like sure, storing a photo of a complete stranger in one's phone could be considered a little strange, even if your dog's in it as well. But now, when I happened to succeed at drawing out such an offensive reaction out of Jeongin without even planning to, I suddenly wanted to get rid of the picture as fast as I could. Even though I thought it was a cute one. Like let me clarify, I meant my dog was cute in it. I was keeping it because of my dog. Totally not cause of Jeongin. _(Yeah right, say sike. SAY IT.)_

“Yeah, your boss, Seungmin,” I replied, sounding now a little more cautious, “but I can delete it if, if it's, troubling you.”

“He took a picture of _me_?” Honestly? Might have been just a wild guess of mine, but it didn't entirely feel like Jeongin was all that upset about his boss secretly taking pictures of him. Quite the opposite, in my humblest opinion.

“I don't mean to sound too impatient, but my dog might start popping out her children any minute now and I want to be with her when that happens,” Felix suddenly took the initiative and pulled apart our previous conversation with Jeongin.

Right, mama Mackenzie needs us. We all rushed to the car without wasting any more precious time.

We managed to arrive at Clifton about an hour later. Jeongin then escorted us through the hotel and led us to a small, separate room where Mackenzie was currently being isolated from the rest of the dogs.

Seungmin greeted us outside, in the waiting room, smiling warmly, but one could tell from the disheveled look and slightly strained, puffy eyes that it must have been a tiring day for him.

“Congratulations Felix,” he clasped his hands together in an elated manner, “You have been blessed with two healthy and sound pups. Wanna have a look?”

I could see the jolt of relief and simultaneously overwhelming joy that flashed through Felix's entire face. The gasp he produced afterwards was filled with so much emotion, both relieving and overpowering at the same time, that it made him tear up on the spot.

I watched as a stream of tears poured down his reddened cheeks and dripped down onto the floor in thick, shiny droplets. He tried to smear them off with the back of his hand, all while sobbing loudly into the sleeve of his shirt.

My instant reaction was to cuddle him into a comforting hug, bringing my hand to his hair and stroking it lightly. I felt warm tears being smudged across the side of my neck where his face was pressing into it and his chest heaved with rippling force every time he tried to steal a breath in between the gasps. I have never seen him so vulnerable before, but the sight had me turn into nothing but a softhearted mess.

“Please, I wanna see them,” he managed to get through, turning to Seungmin and Jeongin, who stood behind him in silence for the whole time. The guys shared a nod of acknowledgment and Seungmin then ushered his young employee to push the door open.

The four of us entered the room quietly.

Mackenzie seemed to be dozing off inside a spacious cushioned basket, probably catching up on sleep that she had been denied of for god knows how long. She looked totally unbothered by the fact that her newborn children, two tiny fluff balls that were roughly the size of a child's palm, were clutching onto her belly tightly, nursing themselves with mama's milk. They appeared quite lively, scrambling around the cushions to get closer to their mom's warmth, opening and closing their little mouths around mama's breasts cutely.

“I noticed this morning that there was a change in her behavior and I immediately thought 'okay, this is it, she's ready',” Seungmin said in a hushed voice, not wanting to disturb the mom in her sleep, “As soon as it was clear that puppies are on the way, I decided to contact you,” All of us listened to him without taking our eyes off the basket. Felix eventually stopped crying, but the little sobs that escaped his mouth every now and then didn't stop until we left the room.

When it was time for us to leave momma Mackezie with her pups alone, so she could rest properly, Felix just gave her a few soothing pets on her head before waving her a small goodbye and exiting the room quietly.

Once we were outside, Seungmin invited us for a cup of coffee in his office, which we gladly accepted. Felix kept expressing his gratitude towards Seungmin and Jeongin over and over again, saying that he cannot possibly thank them enough for their immense help. Seungmin just brushed it off like this wasn't a big deal for him at all, “It's not like I have a chance to assist births all the time, but every once in a while, when the opportunity presents itself, I do what I gotta do. These moments have a weird sort of power to make me remember why I decided to leave school and start a seemingly fickle business like this. But I love what I do and I wouldn't want to change any of it,” His voice was filled with sentimentality and he kept exchanging small glances with every one of us as he spoke.

I felt like I could understand where his unusually unbending sort of confidence and certitude were coming from. Because once you discover what makes you feel happy and you do it with love, or rather, when you feel like love itself springs from your efforts and achievement, it makes you feel like you could keep on going forever. This guy right here had his life figured out and all I could do was to admire him for that.

Even Jeongin listened to him with intent in his eyes, smiling through the entirety of Seungmin's monologue. He looked like he was feeding off of his speech, hungry to take in every single word that came out of Seungmin's mouth. I had a feeling that he must have looked up to his boss the way a novice, an inexperienced apprentice looks up to his wise master.

“Jeongin-ah? Could you please go check on the kennels for me?” Seungmin suddenly said, giving the young boy a stern look. Woah, he sure sounded like a bossy superior just now. Jeongin straightened up from his seat immediately at that, but continued to scan Seungmin's hardened features with dreamy eyes. What interesting dynamics they had…

“On it, Mr. Kim,” After Joengin disappeared behind the office doors, a loud, relieving exhale found its way out of Seungmin's lungs, like he just couldn't wait any longer to send the young employee off on a duty.

“That kid is really something. Seems like he treasures his job. Is he a regular?” I asked, catching onto the wave of this weird, stuffy energy that stayed hanging in the air, even after Jeongin was gone. I watched as Seungmin brought a hand to his face and started to rub at the bridge of his nose incessantly. Wrinkles sprang up on his forehead and he had his eyes squeezed shut as if my question happened to be an annoying one.

“No, god. He's just a part-timer. He was looking for a good paying job that wouldn't be too demanding since he's still a student. He's fairly hard-working, but he seriously gives me a headache,” And I watched him flap his arms in the air in a deranged manner a couple of times before he just shook his head disapprovingly and proceeded to sit down behind his work desk.

“Well, he sure sends off a lively vibe. Plus, he's very polite with you,” I tried to say something to Jeongin's defense. Not that this was any of my business. But I kind of found it funny how much this distressed him.

“Don't make me even start on that. It's been three months since he started working for me and for some reason, he still insists on calling me _Mr. Kim._ And he's only a couple months younger than me, thank you very much,” he exclaimed wearily.

“Maybe I should consider calling you Mr. Bang too, since I'm practically working for you as well,” Felix suddenly joined in, throwing me off with a devilish grin plastered on his face.

“I won't allow that kind of jackassery. I'm being serious here,” I retorted, serving him a cold stare.

“Okay, my bad,” he said, feigning defeat.

“Listen guys,” Seungmin called out, interrupting our little chitchat, “I know you're not gonna like what I'm about to propose, yes, I'm looking at you, Felix, but it's kind of getting late and I need to start preparing the dogs for the night so. What do you think? Would you like to spend the night in a nearby B&B across the street? You can come pick your dogs up in the morning,“ The prospect of a good nights rest was like music to my ears. Blessed man, this Kim Seungmin.

For Felix though, the proposal might not have been as compelling, not necessarily because he wasn't content with spending the night at a hotel, but I could sense he wasn't probably ready to leave Mackenzie behind. He would rather spend the entire night with her. Seungmin was the one who made the rules though, a slim chance he would allow that.

And just like that, we exchanged our goodbye's and made a small trip across the street to check ourselves in.

I was not expecting for things to escalate so quickly once we arrived at our room. The moment we stepped inside, I found myself being pressed against the closed door with a loud thud, with Felix's hands grabbing at my sides, pulling my shirt apart and popping a few buttons open with unexpected ease.

His breath ghosting at the shell of my ear sent cold shivers down my spine and I couldn't help the needy gasp that escaped my mouth when he happened to suck at my sensitive spot just under the earlobe.

„Fuck,“ was all I managed to breathe out. I shied away, tilting my head to the side, though he took it as an invitation and started to abuse my neck with wet, open-mouthed kisses.

As soon as I realized I'm starting to loose control, I grabbed him by the waist and turned us around in one swift movement. His back hit the door, causing him to let out a desperate groan, and with that deep voice of his which had me loose every single bit of self-restraint, I raked my hand through his locks and crashed our lips together in a uncoordinated, sloppy kiss.

„Christopher,“ he moaned into my mouth prettily, allowing me to push my tongue past his lips and taste the wetness of his own mouth.

What started off as a passionate make-out, slowly turned into something sensual, more relaxed and gave us a chance to embrace the feeling of our shared intimacy, both getting lost in the languid connection of our tongues moving against each other at a slow, leisurely pace.

We stayed like that for a long while. Just him grazing his swollen lips against mine, bumping our noses together, all while whispering sweet nothings to each other softly which we knew weren't traded between us simply for them to turn into empty promises the moment we untangle from our embrace.

On our bed, when he helped me make myself comfortable on it, he then climbed on top of me, straddling my hips, and started to undress his jacket, then shirt, teasing me with an intimidating, sultry stare.

I stayed still for a short while, taking in the sight, his bare chest glistening with a light sheen of sweat, the naked skin of his upper body radiating heat, hot to the touch.

I felt a little daring and so I brought him closer to me, pressing my hands into the small of his back, sticking my tongue out to lick a tentative stripe around his nipple. The response was instantaneous. He opened his mouth in a silent gasp, curving his spine backwards like a cat, pushing more weight onto my straddled lap. I kept flicking my tongue across the hardened spot in quick, teasing strides and only stopped to release a drawn out moan when his hips happened to thrust greedily alongside the tenting bulge in my pants.

The fabric of my boxers stuck to the tip of my hard cock wetly as precum started to ooze from it. Felix gradually steadied his movements, thrusting against my bulge at a tantalizingly slow pace, his breath stuttering every time he managed to slide his hips upward at a particularly gratifying angle.

His cheeks were flushed a pretty shade of pink, thighs trembling from the effort. I let my hands travel down the curve of his torso, stopping at the edge of his jeans, asking for permission with a slight tug at the hem. He responded with a hauntingly delicate 'yes', swatting my hands away and undoing the button himself.

It felt liberating, finally freeing my cock from its confines, my pants now pooling low under the caps of my knees, the weight of Felix's body, now stark naked, shifting closer to mine.

The built up tension, so close to the edge that it almost threatened to snap, sat heavy between us and suddenly neither of us seemed to be willing to make the next move.

I looked up at Felix in search for any signs of hesitation, but his gaze had been pinned down, focusing on a spot between our legs. I naively assumed he might be having second thoughts, but my mind shut out completely when I saw his cheeks hollow slightly a few times, gathering spit in his mouth, before he spewed it all out over my cock with stunning precision.

„Ah-h, fuck,“ I desperately wanted to let him know how fucking hot that was, but his hand, wrapped around my length, smearing his spit across it evenly made it very difficult for my brain to function properly. He then gathered some of it onto his palm and carefully slicked up his own hard cock.

„Your turn,“ he glanced at me suggestively, waiting for me to take the lead.

With our cocks pressed together firmly, my hand being just large enough to stroke both of our erections simultaneously, it didn't take long before Felix was spilling his cum all over my hand. Some of it landed on my tip as well, the sensation causing my hips to buck up violently a few times until I hit my own climax, coming down from the high with a high-pitched moan reverberating through the room.

Later that night, after we took a shower and made ourselves comfortable on our bed, my mind started going places and I found myself replaying the last few days spent in Felix's company.

„What a mess,“ I whispered quietly, but Felix picked up on it nonetheless.

„What? The cum stains?“ Felix asked out of nowhere.

„That too,“ I produced a tiny huff of laugh.

„Ah, you mean us,“ he said in a timid voice. I felt his head nuzzle into my chest, swinging an arm over my belly.

We let a moment pass in ponderous silence, before Felix decided to break it. „Would you still hold me close when tomorrow comes?“ The question hung heavy in the air, like a misty fog that lies low over bare ground until the morning sun rises and quietly makes it disappear.

„I won't ever let go of you.“ The sun won't simply make me go away.

Felix's phone went off around seven in the morning. He received an urgent call from Seungmin.

„You're not gonna believe this!“ But he refused to tell Felix what it was that got him so fired up and that resulted into Felix panic-pacing around the room in search of his clothes and an unusually distressed tooth-brushing session in the bathroom.

I think it was around 7:06 when we arrived at Seungmin's place. He was waiting for us behind the receptionist desk, jumping up from his seat the moment he heard a pair of rushing steps outside on the property's driveway.

He unlocked the door and without delay, he started ushering us towards Mackenzie's private room.

„So last time I checked on her, I think it was around midnight, she seemed fine, nothing unusual going on with her,“ he explained as we walked, „I thought I was tripping at first, but when I came back this morning, there were three.“ All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks abruptly and I realized we arrived at the entrance to Mackenzie's room.

„What do you mean there were three?“ Felix asked, his face full of concern.

Seungmin, clearly chomping at the bit to show us what exactly lay behind the door, pushed them open with a mysterious 'come in and see for yourself' and finally let us in.

At first I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, not until Mackenzie stood up to come pay Felix her greetings. Something caught my attention the moment she stepped out of her dog bed.

In short, there were three. Well, more like two and a half because the third pup was very, very small, around half the size compared to its siblings, but it was there.

„Oh my god?“ Both of us happened to yell out in unison.

„I was as much surprised as you are. And, by the way, it's a girl,“ Seungmin added happily.

„I'm, I have,“ Felix seemed to have trouble gathering his thoughts, „Seven. I gotta take care of seven dogs from now on,“ he sounded perturbed as realization hit him.

I looked at the bundle of fluff scrambling around the cushions chaotically and I couldn't help but kneel down beside the basket, picking one of the pups up and cradling it tenderly in my palms. The pup suddenly came to life, squeaking vigorously at the touch. Felix had a bunch of sleepless nights coming, I could tell as much.

After having a well-meaning discussion with Seungmin concerning Mackenzie's current situation, Felix decided to stay at Clifton until Monday morning, giving his dog more time to recover after the birth.

„Don't worry Chris, your ride home should be on their way already,“ Seungmin suddenly informed me.

„What do you mean?“ I haven't recalled asking him to arrange for a ride home and so I stared at him in confusion.

„Oh, he didn't leave you a message?“ He asked a little surprised.

„Who?“ I still wasn't following.

„I see. Of course he didn't. Why am I even surprised...“ I watched him shake his head in disappointment before he turned his attention back to me, „That irresponsible brat Hwang. If he thinks I'm gonna let this one slide he should-„

„Hwang?“ I tried to recall if I knew anyone who goes by the name of Hwang when it suddenly dawned upon me, „You mean Hyunjin?“ I asked, now even more confused than before.

„That one,“ he confirmed through gritted teeth and just then, I felt my phone buzz from inside my pocket.

Quite against my expectations, it was a message from Changbin, not Hyunjin. It read, „Morning. Be ready, your hairdresser is on his way to pick you up at Clifton. See ya on Monday,“ I stared at the message with incredulous eyes. _What? How come he's only telling me now? And on top of that, why Minho of all people?_ I needed someone to explain it to me and so I turned to the only person at hand. Seungmin.

„Not like it's any of my business but how come you're close with Hyunjin?“ Seungmin's head snapped towards me and he glared at me as if I just had offended him deeply.

„Let me get one thing out of the way,“ he retorted, staring daggers at me, „We are anything _but_ close.“ He sure looked, intimidating, for some reason.

„Okay, got it. So I guess you don't know him that well,“ I assumed, trying to lessen the impact of my previously asked question.

„Pff, I wish! I know him like the back of my hand! Besides, who do you think helped that brat out start his own business?“ And he turned his finger towards himself dramatically, so as to make sure there was simply no room for confusion. I started to suspect there must've been something going on between the two. Some unresolved drama from the past? I could've only imagined what might have triggered Seungmin's sudden outburst.

„Sorry, I didn't know that. I only really met Hyunjin a couple days ago, so I wouldn't know,“ I said apologetically at which Seungmin finally seemed to cool down a bit, face filled with remorse.

„No, don't apologize. I'm just mad at him for not letting you know sooner. He's always been like this after all,“ I kind of wanted to ask what exactly he meant by that but not wanting to pry, I decided it would be best to leave it as it was.

„Wanna go get your dog ready for the drive?“

„On it.“

In all honesty, it felt kind of weird having Minho drive me back to New York. Like, he was my hairdresser, but we never actually met outside the barber shop he worked for. Even something as simple as a exchanging greetings left me with a strange feeling in my gut.

„Could you please hold the dog in your arms for the whole drive,“ he asked while we were getting into car „I don't need him messing up my backseat.“

„Not a dog person eh?“ I said randomly after a few minutes into the ride, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

„No offence, but I prefer cats,“ He answered with a shrug.

„Non taken. So, any cats in your life?“

„Three, actually,“ I should have seen that coming...

„Woah, don't tell me you're like one of those elderly cat ladies who bond with their cats over tea parties designed to make a use of their totally impractical but repulsively treasured tea set and feeding them cats nothing but gourmet food,“ Okay, so maybe I got a little too carried away with my description of a cat lady, but Minho, quite surprisingly, didn't seem offended in the slightest.

„But what if...“ He shot back at me playfully, „Would you think less of me if I happened to own a totally impractical but repulsively treasured tea set? Choose your words wisely,“ Damn, he totally had one. I knew it!

„Don't be silly. I love cats!“ I said, feigning innocence, „Though they don't exactly love me back as much.“

„Maybe cause you smell like a dog,“ he deadpanned, his not so kind remark prompting me to fake a gasp.

„Excuse you, my dog can hear you,“ and as if this conversation hasn't been ridiculous enough, Brodie suddenly decided to join in and produced a couple of tiny, suppressed barks.

„Sorry little one, but the smell certainly isn't a pleasant one,“ Minho said at which Brodie just tilted his head to the side cutely, his big, puppy like eyes staring at him in question. We shared a heartfelt laugh together, both of us now feeling much more relaxed than when we first greeted each other awkwardly on the parking lot at Clifton.

„I was wondering,“ and I thought for a moment, „who told you to pick me up at Clifton?“ I finally asked.

„Han,“ he simply said, turning his head to me briefly, „And if you're wondering why he didn't come get you himself, instead of asking me, he went to pick up the rest of your crew.“

„You mean Changbin and Hyunjin?“

„Yeah, I believe so,“ I suddenly felt deeply indebted to Minho for coming. I felt bad for making him give up on his free time, especially on Sunday morning, but I told myself I would try to make it up to him somehow.

The last few days had been nothing but a rollercoaster of event and there was certainly a lot to think through. So when Minho finally pulled the car in front of my apartment, I thanked him exactly eight times before we parted, already thinking about how I'm going to spend the rest of my weekend in solitude.

I haven't heard from Felix throughout the whole Monday except for when he managed to send me a message which said he wouldn't be able to take Brodie for a walk in the afternoon. I let him know it was fine and that he should take some time off until he figures out the puppy crisis.

On Tuesday, I decided to stay at home. It's not like I took a day off very often, but for some reason, I wasn't feeling particularly well that day and I at least could keep Brodie company, since Felix was now preoccupied with taking care of his own dogs.

I managed to get out of bed before eleven only because I was starving. And I had to take Brodie on his late late morning walk, but that would have to wait until I've satiated my appetite.

So I was sitting there, on my couch, enjoying my breakfast in nothing but a pair of sleeping shorts when I got another message from Felix.

„Hi babe,“ Goodness Gracious, I remember how I started choking on a piece of toast at the pet name, „I'm busy today as well. No worries though, Hyunjin is coming instead,“ I realized I failed to let Felix know I'm taking a day off. Now I had to think fast and call Hyunjin that he didn't need to come, since I was home.

Could you imagine how traumatizing it would be, for both of us, if he happened to find me like this? Sprawled out on my couch half naked, with a huge ketchup stain on my chest, _don't know when or how that happened,_ and my dog sitting on my lap, hypnotizing me in order for me to surrender a few pieces of ham to him?

That's when I heard my front door click.

To be continued...


End file.
